NI

GERI
ANLEGALSYSTEM :

*
CONCEPTOFJUSTI
CEANDRULEOFLAW*

In1861,
Lagoswascededtot
heBr i
tishbyki
ngdosunmuand
theBri
ti
shbroughtal
ongt
hei
rlegalsyst
em,whi
chisthe
commonl aw

 Fi
v eordinancepromulgatedareasfoll
ows( a)cust
om duti
es
ordinanceno1of1862( b)har
bourregulat
ionsordi
nanceno
2of1862( c)harboursanit
ati
onordi
nanceno3of1862( d)
currencyordinanceno4( e)useofoffi
cial
sealordi
nanceno
5of1862

 Aft
ertheannexat
ionofLagosbytheBr
it
ishin1861a
l
egisl
ati
veandexecuti
vecounci
lwasconsti
tut
edfori
t

 LagosandotherBr
it
isht
erri
tor
iesl
i
kegambi
a,gol
dcoast
,
Sier
raLeonewerecommissi
onedon19Febr
uary1866

 Lagosbecameapol
i
tical
ent
it
yin1886wi
thi
son
gover
nment

I
n1906t heprot
ectorat
eofsout
hernNiger
iaandthecol
ony
ofLagoswerealmagamatedandcall
edthecolonyand
prot
ector
ateofsouther
nNiger
iabyordi
nance

I
n1914t hecol
onyandprot
ector
ateofsout
her
nNi ger
iawas
mergedwit
htheprot
ect
orat
eofnorther
nNiger
iaand
becamethecol
onyofpr
otect
orat
eofNigeri
a

 TheNiger
iacounci
l
swasusei
nst
eadoft
hel
egi
slat
ive
counci
laf
teral
magamat
ed
 TheNiger
iacounci
lconsistof30member
sofwhom wher
e
17off
ici
alsand13non-,offi
cial
s

In1922sirHughCl i
f fordmadehi sconst ituti
onand
i
ntroducet hefollowi ng( a)t hef irstelectionconduct edf or
l
egislat
ionwi th4sl ot sf orLagosand1f orCal abar,
andi t
wasonl ythoset hatear ned100poundsanual lythatwas
all
owedt opar ti
cipat e( b)al egi slati
vecounci l was
i
ntroducedandr eplacet heNi ger i
ancounci lwi th46
member sandt heGov ernorast heheadwi t
h23of f
icial
member s,and19non-of f
icialsand4ot herel ect edmember s
(c)councilonlylegislat edf ort het hesout handgov er nor
l
egislat
edf ortheNor t hv i
apr oclamat i
on( d)therewasan
excecuti
vecounci lwi thnoNi ger i
anr epresent ative:theyare
governor,chiefsecr etar y,li
eut enantgov ernor s,
administr
at i
onf orLagos, attorney -general ,directorof
servi
ce,compt rollergener al e.tc

 Richar
dArthurconsti
tutionhadthef ol
l
owingaims(a)to
promoteNigeri
aunity(b)t oprov
ideadequat
elyforpeopl
e
desir
es(c)toprovi
degr eaterpart
ici
pati
onofi
ndigenous
peopletodotheirownaf fair
s

 Arthurconsti
tut
ionintr
oducedthef ol
lowing( a)
ithas
l
egislat
ivecouncil
ofgov er
nor,
16of f
ici
almember s,North
had11,west8andeast6member s.
.t
helegislat
ivecouncil
l
egislat
ef ort
hewhol ecountry(
b) i
tprovi
der egi
onal houseof
assembly( c)
itr
educestheAmountofl i
mi t
edf r
anchisefrom
100t o50poundsandmakemor epeopletov ote(d)the
executi
vecouncilhadNi ger
iasforthefi
rstti
mei npersonof
 si
radey
emoal
ki
jaandbankol
eRhodes

 Thedefect
sofArt
hurconst
ituti
onar
e(a)i
tli
mit
edfranchise
toLagosandCal
abaronly(
b)Themoneyr equi
redt
ov ote
wasv er
ycost
ly(
c)regi
onalassembl
iescoul
dnotmakel aws

 SirJohnMacPher sonconsti
tut
ionint
roducedthefol
l
owing
(a)incl
udeNiger
iansintheconsti
tuti
onmaki ngpr
ocess(b)
therewaswideconsultati
onofNigeri
ansev entot
heIbadan
conferencei
n1950

 MacPher sonconst i
tuti
onpr ovidedt hefoll
owi ng( a)afederal
l
egi slat
ivecal l
edthehouseofr epresent at
ivesi thad136
electedr epresentati
v es,6ex-offi
cio,6nomi neesbyt he
gov ernor..
68member sf rom north,34from westand34f r
om
east( b)itallowregional legi
slaturesprov i
delawf orthei
r
region..t
hewestandnor thoperatebi -
camer a,theeast
oper ateuni camer al(c)member sf rom thelegislati
veare
wer enomi nat edfrom t heregion

 Ant
honyenahoroi
n1953proposedNiger
iashoul
dbegi
ven
i
ndependencei
n1956butt
henor t
her
nalopposedit

 Lytt
letonconstituti
onpr ovidedt hefoll
owing( a)iti
ntroduced
thefederalsystem wi thNor t
h,east, westandsout hern
camer oons..
thef ederalter
rit
orywasi nLagos( b)therewas
supremecour tforNi geriaandi ndivi
dualhighcour tsforthe
regi
on's,thehighestcour twast hejudici
alcommi t
teeoft he
pri
vycounci l(
c)theeast ernandwest ernregionbecamesel f
governingin1957( d)thenor t
her nbecamesel fgoverni
ngi n
1959
 Southerncamer
oonsopt
edoutofNi
ger
iat
hrougha
ref
erendum

 Nigeri
abecameanindependentnati
onon,1stOctober1960
andDr .
namdiAzi
ki
wewast hegov er
norgeneral
..
SirAhmadu
taf
awabalewawast hepri
memi nist
erbuttheQueenwas
sti
llt
hehead

 Thei ndependenceconst it
uti
onhadt hefollowing(a)i
t
i
ncludepr ovi
sionofacqui ri
ngci ti
zenshipoft hecountr
y(b)i
t
i
ncludepr ovi
sionfortheamendmentoft heconstit
uti
on
(c)j
udgeswher eappoi ntedthroughnomi nati
onbyt he
j
udicialservi
ce(d)legisl
ativepowerwer edi v
idedbetween
thecent r
eandt heregionallegislat
ureandmadepr ov
isi
on
forconcurrentli
st(e)itprovideadual excecut i
vei.
eheadof
stateandgov ernor-general(f)itprovi
dedsupr emacy

 Thedefectoftheindependenceconst
it
utionar
e( a)The
queenwasst i
l
l t
heheadoft hestat
e(b)thesupremecourt
wasnotthehighestcourtofappeal

 TheRepubl
i
canconst
it
uti
onwaspassedi
ntol
awon
Sept
ember19,
1963andcametofor
ceon1stOct
ober1963

 Thef eaturesofther epubli

canconst ituti
onare(a)The
presidentbecamet heheadofst at
e( b)Thesupremecour t
becamet hehighestcour tofappeal (c)Theirwasnowa
pri
memi ni
ster(
d)Thepowerofj udicialvi
ewwasv estedin
thesupr emecour t(e)Thesenat eseatwasi ncr
easesf r
om
44t o56, houseofrepr esentat
iveswasi ncr
easedfrom 305
to312beacuseoft hecr eati
onofmi d- east
ernstat
e
 Thedef ectoft
heRepubli
canconsti
tuti
onare(a)The
presi
dentwasel ect
edbynati
onalassemblyinst
eadoft
he
el
ectorate(b)i
taboli
sht
henationalj
udici
alserv
ice
commi ssion

 Acoupi
n1966br
oughtanabr
uptendt
odemocr
ati
crul
e

 Thepresi
dent
ial
const
it
uti
oncamei
ntol
awon1stOct
ober
,1979

 Thefeaturesoft hepresidentialconstit
utionare(a)itreplace
theparl
iament arysystem witht hepresidential
system
(b)
Thepr esidentwaschosenbyel ectorate(c)cabinet
memberwer enotappoi ntedf rom theparliament(d)Ther e
wasanexcecut i
vegov ernorforeachst at
e( e)The
l
egisl
aturewasbi camer al.
.t
hesenat ehad95
member s,houseofr epresentativeshad450member s( f
),The
l
egisl
aturehadt hepowert oimpeacht hepr esi
dentandt he
houseofr epresentati
veshadt hepowert oi mpeacht he
gover
nor( g)Thejudici
al ser
vicecommi ssionwas
rei
ntr
oduce

 Justi
cehasnodefinitedefi
nit
ionbutthemajorat
tri
butesnot
al
lthedefi
nit
ioni
st hatjust
iceisal
laboutbei
ngfairandjust

 Rul
eofl
awwasmadepopul ari
nthe19t
hcent
urybyBr
it
ish
j
uri
stA.
V.Di
ceybutt
raceablet
othe17t
hcent
ury

 Rul
eofl
awsi
sthesi
tuat
ionwher
enoonei
sabov
ethel
aw

 Rul
eofl
awi
sthef
oundat
ionofci
vi
li
sedsoci
ety

I
fal
lthef
eat
uresofr
uleofl
awar
enotadher
eto,
just
ice
 cannotbeat
tai
ned

 JohnRawlssay
sthatj
usti
ceist
hef
ir
stvi
rt
ueofsoci
al
i
nsti
tut
ions,
ast
rut
hisofsyst
emsoft
houghts

 Justi
cetradi
ti
onall
yhasbeenassoci
atedwi
thconceptof
fat
e, r
eincar
nati
onanddivi
neprovi
dence

 Justi
ceandrul
eofl
awareachiev
edwhenanunj
ustacti
s
redr
essedandthev
ict
imfeel
wholeagai
n

 Symbol
ofjust
icei
sthePr
act
ical
demonst
rat
ionofwhat
j
usti
cemeans

 Theper
soni
fi
cati
onofj
ust
icei
sasfol
l
ows:ROBEDIN
WHITE,
BLINDFOLDED,
REGALLYDRESSED,
THESCALEAND
THESWORD

 ROBEDI
NWHI
TEMEANS:Judgemustnotbebi
ased

 BLINDFOLDEDMEANS: Reasoni
ngwithoutappeal
i
ngt
o
senti
ment,sot
hatj
ust
icecanbeatt
ained

 REGALLYDRESSEDMEANS:
Just
icei
sthenobl
estand
spl
endi
dofal
lconcept
s

 THESCALEMEANS:
Eachper
sonr
ecei
vewhathe/
she
deser
ves

 THESWORDMEANS: WhenoneisFoundgui
l
ty,
sanct
ions
ar
eappl
i
edinappr
opr
iat
eci
rcumstances

 Just
icekayodeexaminejust
icef
rom 3anglei
.ejust
iceto
compli
ant,
defendantandcommunitythatwil
lbeaff
ected
 onewayort
heot
her

 Obstacl
estotheat t
ainmentofjusti
cear easfol
lows(a)
abuseofpower( b)wronginter
pretat
ionoflaw(c)ref
usalt
o
rewardposi
tivemerit(d)r
efusaltopunishcri
mes(e)
part
ial
it
yintakingdecisi
onse.t.
c