Onimisi's Care, Volume 1.1 PDF

Page 1 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Onimisi’s Care, Volume 1.1. This ―I‘ll strive‖ version of Onimisi‘s Care was first compiled in the year 2018, and has currently undergone the first update in 2021, which is this copy. This material belongs to ___________________________________ from LL.B. _____, Faculty of Law, ______________________________________. If found, return to the pre-mentioned class/faculty/university, or call _______________. Thanks for your cooperation. Page 2 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Contents.  Short Preface by Ahmed Olarewaju Sikiru.  Hints to Effective Studying by Hadi Onimisi Tijani.  English for Legal Writing I (LAW 1309) Lecture Notes.  Legal Methods (LAW 1301) Lecture Notes.  Basic Concepts of Political Science (LAW 1203) Lecture Notes.  Bonus (GSP – Use of English).  Closing Remark by Onimisi – fluent in silence Page 3 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Short Preface by Ahmed Olarewaju Sikiru. The essence of human existence is to serve the Almighty Allah through service to humanity. This is what inspired the writer of this material in compiling the precise breakdown of the lectures into the simplest form anyone can think of. Being a student, speaker, and English teacher, the writer took his time and resources in adopting a chronological arrangement of the lectures. The use of grammatical cum vocabulary construction makes it an all-time reading material which is a must for any zenith-aspiring student of law and other related discipline. It is indeed direct from the source. With this lecture note, you have no excuse to failure. A.S.O. Ige. LAW/17/LLB. Page 4 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! HINTS TO EFFECTIVE STUDYING. these useful hints. I don't believe that witches and wizards can make one not to They say; ―I spend 8 to 12hrs reading.‖ understand what one studies. And whenever they say so, students be like; a) Discover your reading time — that ―Wow! I wish I could, also.‖ I study very early in the morning and understand it doesn't guarantee Most students feel they haven't studied your understanding when you also enough because they still study below 8hrs. read early in the morning. Some people will do well when they read Sometimes, they even make mockery of you in the afternoon, evening, or, by saying; ―he is not a serious type. The mostly, at night. It's very important highest time he spends studying is an hour? to discover the particular time OMG!" when you'll read and understand. Don't let what your teachers, friends or Don't follow that your roommate COURSE MATES tell you to deceive you! who always reads in the evening, My teacher would always say; ―Onimisi, as just because he/she understands it. old as I am, I still spend 8 to 10hrs in reading. If you always read at night and you Try to do the same.‖ One day, I asked him; discover that you don't always ―Sir, spending up to 8hrs reading can make understand most of all you read, one to forget what one had learned in the the witches in your village are not early 2hrs. Why stress myself to read for after you, my sweetheart! All you 8hrs?‖ need do is to change your reading time — try some other time. When you read continuously for 8 or more hours, that part which you read earlier when b) Discover your reading place. Hello, you just started reading will gradually escape love! Some people can read and from your head. understand well when they are in a noisy environment — it's not When you're reading to MEMORISE, it's madness, who knows, that might also good to spend 8 or more hours. However, if be your best place of reading; you you're reading to UNDERSTAND, it is very just haven't discovered it. Some wrong to spend up to that. people can read and understand well when they are in the room. Some, Hello, my prospective lawyers, journalists, when they are in the library. Some reporters, doctors, engineers, etc.! Take when they are on a swing (in Page 5 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Nigerian language, jangolover). e) Every time you're on earpiece, let it Most can read and understand better not just be for music. Try recording when in a quiet environment. The what your lecturers lecture you in most important thing is to discover class and listen to them continuously the category you belong to. Don't with earpiece and you'll see the follow others to read in the library if improvement immediately. I, the library is not your best place. sometimes, record myself reading lecture notes and in turn listen to them c) Discover your reading activity daily. Just take your hand-out and (activities). Discovering the activity read aloud and record, start listening (ies) that keep you moving while to it. Try downloading lecture audio reading is very vital. I know of three files of different topics you want and geniuses that can read and listen to them. They should be your understand better when listening to music. blues. Some understand better when playing computer games and f) Know your reading ability. Honestly, reading, simultaneously. Some it is not very advisable for one to read understand better when lying down. for 8hrs. Don't follow them. Read for, Some understand better in rigmarole highest, 2hrs. Try to understand the reading (i.e., moving around and area you've read; you'll get to reading). Some, the only way they discover that you understand better understand what they've read is to, than someone who reads for 8hrs. in turn, teach it or discuss it with Always go with this slogan; ―If you others. Just try discovering your want to cram, read for 8hrs and activity and you'll be a guru. Don't above. If you want to read and believe in witches understand, read for at most 2hrs.‖ 2hrs is even too much. Anyway, just d) Using YouTube to study. take it. Technology has made learning so easier that we no longer have to go g) Focus! Whenever you read, don't let through much stress again. Any area that your boyfriend/girlfriend come you fail to understand, just go to into your mind. Once you split your YouTube and type in the topic in the attention, my love, you're doomed. search box. Watch a lecture on that Give all your attention to that which and you'll understand it. you read. The moment something odd (like making your hair, getting new Page 6 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! shirts, and so on) starts coming into mean you can't make it this semester. your mind while reading, QUIT NO ONE IN THE CLASS IS READING IMMEDIATELY, else, all BETTER THAN YOU ARE. you've read before that minute will Always believe that, ―I AM THE format. BEST!‖ WALLAHI, YOU CAN DO IT. (Meanwhile, don't forget to be h) Determination! Don't be too humble). determined. Don't say; ―I must know this thing today.‖ If you go through it l) Don't feel too big to meet people three times and you don't still get it, to assist you in areas you find stop and try some other time. difficult. Even if those you meet humiliate you and embarrass you, i) Food! Some people can read and just ignore and don't, because of understand better when they are that, give up! Force yourself on hungry. Why not try to check it out? them if there is the need. j) Sleeping! ―Oh, God! The witches m) Edit your friends. Not everyone you are after me again! Why is it that move with or have a group whenever I take my book to read, I discussion with actually cares about always feel sleepy?‖ No witches, your result. Most of them only care love! Sorcery (wizardry or for their own results. Move with witchcraft) only happens in fairy- people who want the best for you. tale. Get a cup of coffee when That I smile and always joke with reading or, take snacks or you doesn't mean I care about your equivalent. If after taking your cup result. of coffee, snacks or equivalent, simultaneously with reading, you Thanks, and God bless. still feel sleepy, 'GO AND By Hadi Onimisi Tijani. SLEEP'. Don't force yourself to continue reading when you're dizzy! [email protected] k) Don't ever think that you can't do it. 08142489112. That you couldn't have up to 3 points in the previous semester doesn't LAW/17/LLB Page 7 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! LAW 1309 – ENGLISH FOR LEGAL WRITING I Mallama Samira Abubakar’s Lecture Notes. Lecture 1. STUDY SKILLS Study skills are arrays of skills which tackle the process of organising and taking in new pieces of information, retaining pieces of information or dealing in perceptions. They include concentration techniques and efficient note making. Basic Components of Study Skills.  Listening skills.  Note taking and note making.  Speaking skills.  Listening Skills Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret information in the communication process. Contrary to popular presumptions, listening is not a naturally occurring content. It is an expertise that needs to be cultivated and refined. Listening is a deliberate cognitive undertaking which requires attention, curiosity, contextual knowledge, comprehension and remembrance. Types of Listening. i. Informational Listening — listening to learn (listening to receive a Page 8 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! piece of information). ii. Critical Listening — listening to evaluate and analyse. iii. Emphatic/Therapeutic Listening — listening to understand feelings or emotions. For academic purpose; iv. Sophisticated Listening — listening with the combination of the ears and the eyes. A sophisticated listener is expected to use his/her bisensory skill of hearing and seeing at the same time to comprehend the message being communicated. Sophisticated listeners understand that speech cannot be torn apart from nonverbal communication — similarly, gestures cannot be comprehended without reading facial expressions. Sophisticated listeners are expected to develop retention skills. Steps of Effective Listening.  Listening to information carefully to determine the central idea being communicated.  Being prepared on the subject matter.  Avoid unnecessary distractions — don't interrupt the speaker.  Note Taking and Note Making. The main aim of Note taking and Note making is to summarise the content of a lecture or a written text into its most important point for the purpose of reading, recalling, and evaluating the substance of the note at a later stage. Page 9 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! These two important processes require a number of skills which include:  Listening attentively to the information;  Recognising and understanding the major divisions of a lecture or text;  Reading a written text actively and constructively;  Distinguishing the major points from supporting details;  Recognising digression from explanations;  Using correct abbreviations and symbols;  Summarising the content of a lecture or text in a useful outline format;  Avoiding unnecessary distractions. Definition of Notes. Notes are essentially a form of summary of principal ideas and important supporting details of an oral or written presentation. Note Taking. It is the art of reducing, into writing, an oral discourse for subsequent reflections usually for the purpose of learning. Note taking involves the use of receptive language skill of listening. You are required not to take too little or too much of the note. Purposes of Note Taking.  It helps to remember the discourse. Page 10 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  It helps in concentrating on the topic while a lecture takes place.  It assists in making further research on the topic. Stages of Note Taking. There are three basic steps in note taking:  The Preparatory Stage: This entails actions done before the lecture, such as: reading a reference material on the topic, and being physically, psychologically, and mentally prepared for the note taking.  Note Taking Stage: This involves the note-taking activity and it requires active listening during the lecture, which is characterized by concentrating and remaining focused on the lecturer and what is being discussed. You should take note of important points and useful explanations.  Reorganisation Stage: This entails activities, done after the lecture. This involves reading over the notes, classifying the missing part, and adding more notes and examples to the main points. Note Taking Methods.  Cornel Method: This is done by using two columns to take note. One contains the key words or concept and the other contains the description or notes associated with the key words.  Outlining Method: This method involves writing a series of topics and sub-topics, and identifying them by indenting the text, numbering and lines, using dashes (-) or bullet points ( ). Page 11 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  Visual Method: This is a mind-mapping method which entails the use of diagrams or charts to demonstrate where ideas, concepts and images are linked together around a central key-word or idea. It helps the reader to visualise the information given.  Sentencing Method: In the sentencing method, you simply write down new concepts or topics and then the explanations on the same paragraph. Note Making. Note making is the act of reducing into writing, information from textbooks, articles, journals, newspapers, or internet sources in your own words. It equally includes note made after reading and comprehending lecture notes. Similarly, ideas, points, or explanations of a topic received from electronic media could also be reduced into writing to form notes. Note making could be distinguished from note taking in that, while note taking involves writing what is being heard from a lecture, speech or presentation, note making involves writing what is understood from written materials. Purposes of Note Making.  Essay Writing.  Report Writing.  Examination.  Answers to questions.  Seminar presentations. Page 12 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  Group assignment. Hints for Efficient Note Making.  Read and understand the texts or materials consulted before making the note.  Avoid plagiarism. If, however, there's need to use plagiarism, acknowledge the original writer and make sure to put such in quotation marks.  Use good English grammar to make note, for you are not the only one who is going to use the note — your friends could borrow them or so.  Avoid unnecessary or irrelevant details. Your note should consist of only such points, ideas or issues which you consider of being important and relevant to your research. An example of things that should be avoided is historical aspect of your research topic, except where necessary.  Use of array of dictionaries in the course of making note. It is usual to come across some words or phrases of which you may not be familiar with. Some of such words or phrases are so important as to render the passage or essay meaningless if their meanings are not known. To avoid such a situation, it is advisable that one should have an array of dictionaries at one's disposal while making note.  Use of correct punctuation marks. A good note should be properly punctuated in order to pass across the intended meaning.  While making note, you should arrange the relevant points into paragraphs for easy reading and comprehension. Page 13 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  Use correct spellings, acronyms and abbreviations.  Take note of the reference material you use.  Speaking Skills. Experts in communication posit that personal communication from one person to one or more others is the strongest and most persuasive means of putting across a message. The purpose of discussing this topic of speaking skills is to understand and develop effective communication skills in oral presentations. Principles of Effective Oral Communication.  Good Planning and Adequate Preparation: This involves gathering enough points or facts from relevant materials on the topic of discussion. This helps the speaker to have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter. The speaker should also arrange such points in a logically sequential manner, i.e., from a good introduction to the main body, then to a conclusion.  Fluency or Good Understanding of the Language of the Speech: A good oral presentation is largely based on the speaker‘s phonological competence and vocabulary skills. The speaker should develop good pronunciations, intonations, assignments of stress and phonology, to be able to convey the intended message, fact or information in the speech. This speaker should also choose good vocabulary and grammatical constructions while giving the speech.  Use of Paralinguistic Features: Facial expressions, gestures, postures, Page 14 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! body movements, are paralinguistic features that can also be used to support, reinforce, or contradict the verbal means of communication. The use of such features makes the speech or presentation more lively because the language of the speaker will be well demonstrated, thus, aiding the audience in understanding the message clearly.  Avoid Individualisation of the Audience: Do not concentrate on the personality of the audience as a whole to avoid distraction.  Develop Self-Confidence.  Be Time Conscious: Take note of the time limit. While you are being conscious of your time, take note of attitudes of the audience, which may signify boredom.  Use Appropriate Illustrations: Vital illustrations should be used to explain main points in a presentation. This is necessary because some facts or ideas can best be explained using illustrations. Examples of such illustrations are: statistics, evidence on facts, historical facts, quotations, stories, maps, drafts, diagrams, etc.  Adapting the Speech to the Subject, Purpose, and Audience: A good speech should fit the message, purpose, occasion, and audience. The body language and choice of words of the speaker should be in accordance with the topic, context of speech, and mood of the audience.  Avoid Intercalary Expressions: These are superfluous speech units inserted between words that carry the meaning of the oral message. The most common are: ―I mean‖, ―You know‖, ―Speaking quite frankly‖, ―Between you and me‖, ―To tell you the truth‖, ―As a matter of fact‖, etc. Page 15 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  Good Speech Delivery: This refers to the way and manner in which a speech is presented. The method of the speech is very important. There are many modes of speech delivery. The speech could be read, memorised, or delivered with outlined points. Kinds of Speech. A speech that is read is simple as it aids the speaker to convey the intended message, verbatim. A memorised speech is the kind of speech where the speaker memorises all pieces information that he or she intends to pass across to the audience. This kind of speech is not favourable as the speaker may forget important points he or she wishes to say. A speech given by outlining the relevant points is where the speaker summarises the main points of the speech and, thereafter, explains them. This is the most favoured kind of speech in an academic discourse. The impromptu speech is the speech delivered without any prior preparation. Such kinds of speeches are usually short and precise. Lecture 2. HISTORY OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN NIGERIA. The history of the legal profession in Nigeria is closely identified with the history of the British system of court and colonial rule. Page 16 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Prior to the colonial era, professional advocacy did not feature much in the traditional systems of adjudication found in Nigeria. This was so, because the primary objective of traditional adjudication was to reconcile parties and maintain the brotherly community, and the unwritten customary laws were simple enough. After colonisation, the English type courts were established which invariably called for legal advocacy that was capable of handling English laws and procedures. The first legislative step to regulate this legal advocacy was taken in 1876 with the enactment of the Supreme Court Ordinance of 1876. By its provisions, three classes of people were allowed to practice as legal practitioners in Nigeria, namely:  Professionally qualified legal practitioners who were called to bar in England, Ireland or Scotland.  Those who have worked with legal practitioners for a period of at least 5 years and were deemed sufficiently knowledgeable in the law to practice as attorneys.  The local attorneys appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria whom were other fit and proper persons considered capable of appearing as barristers before the courts. See, generally, section 71-76 of the Supreme Court Ordinance. The first Nigerian Lawyer who made his appearance at the Supreme Court in 1880 was Mr M.H. Sapara Williams. By 1914, there were protests by the professionally qualified legal practitioners on the appointment of local attorneys. These protests ended the era of the Page 17 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! appointment of local attorneys. It was restricted to formally trained lawyers. However, there was no institution in Nigeria to train aspirants to the bar. Lawyers received their trainings from England where they qualify either as barristers or solicitors. This distant training raised concerns over their capability to practice before the Nigerian courts. The concerns were that the dichotomy between the barristers and solicitors in England, as they were so trained, rendered them inadequately equipped for the combined role in Nigeria. Furthermore, the English trained legal practitioners were considered not well- grounded in the customary law which formed the integral part of the Nigerian Legal System. In order to correct these anomalies, the committee, known as the UNSWORTH COMMITTEE, was formed to consider and make recommendations for the future of legal profession in Nigeria, with regards to: legal education, admission to practice, and the right of audience before the court, amongst others. The committee made the following recommendations: 1. That Nigeria should start her own system of legal education. 2. That a faculty of law should be established, first, in the University College of Ibadan, and subsequently in the other universities to be stated in the future. 3. That a law school to be known as Nigerian Law School should be established. 4. That the qualification for admission to legal practice in Nigeria should be a degree in law. Page 18 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! 5. Lastly, that a council of legal education be established. The recommendations led to the enactment of the Legal Education Act, 1962, dealing with the training of legal practitioners; and the Legal Practitioners' Act, 1962, providing for regulations of legal practice in Nigeria. By the Legal Practitioners' Act, 1962, three categories of persons were authorized to practice as Legal Practitioners in Nigeria:  Those enrolled in the roll of legal practitioners at the Supreme Court. For a person to be enrolled in the list, such person must have been called to the bar and must produce the certificate of the call to the registrar of the Supreme Court.  Those permitted by warrant whom are persons authorised by the Chief Justice of Nigeria to appear as legal practitioners in particular proceedings.  Those entitled to practice by virtue of their offices such as the attorneys- general, solicitors-general, state council, directors of public prosecutions, etc. To crown it all, the two enactments mentioned above have been replaced by another Legal Practitioners' Act, 1975. They can be found in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 — CAPS L10 $ L11. Page 19 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Dr Aliyu Mustapha’s Lecture Notes. Course’s Outline: 1. General Overview of English for Legal Writing. 2. Brief history of legal profession in Nigeria. 3. Language and thought. 4. Legal writing. 5. General principle of legal writing. 6. Distinctive/special features of legal writing. 7. Drafting skills. 8. Habits to be avoided by draftsman. Page 20 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Lecture 1. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH FOR LEGAL WRITING. A lawyer may acquire different skills for argument, but whichever skill a lawyer may acquire without knowing how to write is considered useless. This course (English for Legal Writing) is aimed at teaching you the techniques involved. For you to write – you need to know the skills involved. BRIEF HISTORY OF LEGAL PROFESSION IN NIGERIA The history of legal profession in Nigeria is traceable to the period before the advent of the British into the territory now called Nigeria. The country Nigeria only came into existence in 1914 after the amalgamation of the three distinct administrative unit of Nigeria by the then Governor-General, Sir Fredric Lord Lugard. Prior to this era, legal advocacy did not feature in the Nigeria system of rule because, before the emergence of the Colonial masters, Nigeria was administering justice through the Islamic and Customary law. In 1808, Usman Dan Fodio assembled the Fulani army to lead a war against the Hausa Kingdom of the Northern Nigeria. After this incident, the Northern Nigerians (Hausa and Fulani) started administering justice via the Islamic Sharia. Prior to this incident, the Southern Nigerians were made of different communities with various customs and traditions. The communities administered justice via a means known as the customary law. In 1861, the British colonial masters annexed Lagos and made it a colony. Starting from this era, the British masters started colonizing us via a method known as the ―indirect rule system‖. When the British came into Nigeria, they Page 21 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! brought three things which were; Christianity, English Language and the Common law practice of the people of England. Common law is the legislation common to the people of England and it is being practiced by them. After the emergence of the colonial masters, it was argued that whenever there was a dispute between the Nigerian indigenous men and the British men, the Common law practice of the people of England should be used in settling such disputes. The first step to regulate the legal advocacy in Nigeria was taken in 1876. During this period, ―The Supreme Court Ordinance‖ was established. By the virtue of the provisions of the Supreme Court Ordinance, three kinds of people were allowed to practice as an active legal practitioner: i. Professionally qualified advocates who were called to bar in England, Ireland and Scotland; ii. The indigenous lawyers; iii. The local attorneys, who were given license which lasted for a period of 6 months and renews it. The first indigenous lawyer who made his appearance at the Supreme Court in 1880 was Chief Alexander Sapara Williams popularly known as M.H Sapara Williams. The then CJN had the power to appoint the local attorneys/charlatans. In 1908, the qualified attorneys protested against the appointment of the local attorneys which restricted the local attorneys/charlatans from practicing and thereby only limiting legal practice to the qualified advocates. Subsequently, there were challenges encountered by the professionally qualified Page 22 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! advocates, these challenges were: i. They were trained in England to practice as either a solicitor or an advocate but Nigeria practice fused profession ii. They had problems with the understanding of our customary law iii. They were trained in England and they had problem with the nature of Nigeria justice system. In 1957, Unsworth Committee was established to regulate those problems, and study the entire Nigeria legal system, to make a reciprocal arrangement with other common law countries and make some recommendations. Some of these recommendations were: i. A Faculty of Law should be established in the University College of Ibadan and subsequently in other Universities to be created. ii. A Law school to be known as Nigerian Law School should be established to give practical legal training to law students. iii. A council for legal education should be established to regulate Legal education in Nigeria. iv. The qualification for admission to legal practice in Nigeria should be a degree in law. v. Lastly that a council for legal education should be established to regulate legal education in Nigeria. Remarkably, two legislations were enacted, these legislations are: i. The Legal Education (Consolidation) Act of 1962 ii. The Legal Practitioners Act of 1962. Page 23 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! By the virtue of the Legal Practitioner Act 1962, three categories of persons were authorized to practice as Legal Practitioner in Nigeria: i. Those enrolled on the roll of legal practice at the Supreme Court; for a person to be enrolled, such person must have been called to bar and must produce the certificate of call to the registrar of the Supreme Court. ii. Those permitted by warrant; those authorized by the Chief Justice of Nigeria to appear as legal practitioners in particular proceedings. iii. Those entitled to practice by virtue of their offices, such as the attorney-general, solicitor-general, director of public prosecutions, etc. The two legislations mentioned above have been replaced by another Legal Practitioners Act, 1975. They can be found in the laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004 – CAPS L10 and L11.S Lecture 2. LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT. Language is a vehicle through which we convey information from one person to another. Language can also be seen as a medium or a tool for communication. Thought is just a piece of idea or the innermost feelings of ours that we have in our brain and mind. However, these innermost feelings of ours can be arranged beautifully but without a vehicle to express your feelings, that thought is considered useless and worthless. Page 24 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Differences between Language and Thought. While language is a means through which we convey general information to our audience, thought is the innermost feelings of ours that will not be understood by them unless it is being conveyed. Therefore, both language and thought work hand in hand. No matter how convincing our thought may be, it can never be understood unless it is communicated through language. Therefore, language and thought, as far as communication is concerned, are inseparable, i.e., they work together as far as legal profession is concerned. In achieving your objective, you need to organize your thought and apply proper usage of the right phrase. According to Lord Stevensen, ―it is not for you to write but to write what you mean, not to affect your reader but to affect him precisely as you wish‖. Therefore a good writer must learn how to apply the proper usage of the right phrase in order to achieve his/her aims and objective. Forms of Language. The vehicle through which we convey information exists in three forms: i. Oral ii. Written iii. Gesture  Oral: The oral form of language is the form of language in which information is being passed from one person to another through the use of mouth and all other related components. This form of communication is also known as ‗spoken‘.  Written: In this form of language, information is passed through the Page 25 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! medium of writing.  Gesture: Gesture can be seen as the use of body movement to pass information to another person. As a law student or a legal practitioner, it is not only the information contained in the draft or the ones spoken that will convince the judge, the use of gestures play a vital role in convincing him. The Language of the Law. As clearly noted above, among the things that were imported to Nigeria during the colonial era is the English Language. English Language is the language of England used in many varieties throughout the world of which Nigeria is not an exception. The official language of our Superior Court of record is English language. Therefore the official language of Nigeria is English language. In the case of Muhammed Oladapo Ojengbede v Esan & Anr it was decleared openly that: ―There can be no doubt that the official language of superior courts of record in Nigeria is English and that if documents written in an language other than English are to be tendered and properly used in evidence, they must be duly translated into English either by a competent witnesses called by the party to the proceedings who needs them to prove his case or by the official interpreter of the court.‖ In Ogunye v State, Iguh, J.S.C. stated that: ―I cannot over-emphasize the fact and it is a matter of common knowledge and Page 26 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! notoriety of which judicial notice, ought now, to be taken, that the lingua franca in this country is English and that this is the official language employed in all proceedings before the superior courts of records throughout Nigeria.‖ The case of Damina v The State is also very instructive in this case. Furthermore to this effect, section 36(6)(e) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gives the right to an accused to be provided an interpreter if he does not understand the language of the law. However, there are some circumstances where a language other than English is used at the inferior courts. The relevance of language in the study and practice of Law cannot be overemphasized because English is the language of our superior courts of record. It is also the official language of Nigeria. Therefore, aspirants to the bar (law students) and lawyers alike must master the language which is regarded as one of the important tools of the trade. Similarly, our thoughts and ideas which are abstract in form can only be conveyed to our audience through the use of carefully organized words, phrases and sentences. Lecture 3. LEGAL WRITING Before we proceed, we will have to take the definition of the phrase, ‗legal writing‘. The phrase ―legal writing‖ contains two words; ‗legal‘ and ‗writing‘. ‗Legal‘, which is an adjective, refers to something that is related to law, while Page 27 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! ‗writing‘, which is used as a noun, refers to one of the most popular means of communicating, or the process through which members of the legal profession communicate in writing. In the legal parlance, writing is the medium in which lawyers must express their analysis of an issue and seek to persuade others on their clients‘ behalf. It is also the law and fact or synthesis of law put together in a written form. When a lawyer writes, he basically does two things: i. Trying to pass information ii. Trying to persuade or convince his audience. Any legal document must be concise, clear and conform to the standard that has evolved in the legal profession. Legal Drafting. Drafting/legal drafting is the process of drawing or bringing up legal writing. Documents used by a Lawyer while Drafting i. Letters ii. Memo iii. Rejoinment iv. Conveyer v. Motion vi. Affidavit Who is an Attorney? An attorney or a lawyer is a person who acts for another in legal matters. An attorney has the power to write a document which he has authority over. Page 28 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Stages of Writing.  Pre-writing stage  Writing stage  Post-writing stage  Pre-Writing Stage. ‗Pre‘ is a prefix used to mean ‗before‘. This is the stage of thought formation; it is the stage where you organize your thought in a logical way. In this stage you try to know the person you are writing to  Writing Stage. The writing stage is a stage where you put your thoughts in black and white. Here you are expected to put a requisite minimum skill in writing.  Post-Writing Stage. As the prefix implies ‗post‘ (after); this is the stage where you have to ask yourself some question pertaining to the work you‘ve written; if it contains spelling error, syntactic and grammatical error, will the document achieve its purpose, and so on. Lecture 4. GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF LEGAL WRITING Principles are the fundamental considerations or rules that guide a draftsman (lawyer/law student) when he drafts a document. In order words, principles are Page 29 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! fundamental or general laws used as bases for a theory or system of belief. If a legal practitioner wants to write, he does not just write, rather he considers the skills involved. Therefore, if you write, you should be able to appreciate the principles of legal writing. Most of these principles, are better understood through the ―Pre-writing stage‖: Pre-Writing Stage Aims of writing Audience Planning Layout  Aims of Writing. Aim is what you seek to achieve, or having the intention to achieve something. Your aim of studying law is to become a legal practitioner, so, whenever you write, you should know your aim of writing the piece. If you write, your aim should be to inform and convince your reader/audience; in any instance, knowing your aim will assist you in your draft.  Audience. An audience is a group of listeners, readers or spectator. Apart from knowing your aim of writing, you should also know your audience because it is they who would tell you if you should choose high sounding words or not. At times, you should be mindful of the words you use for your audience because your audience may end up being confused instead of being convinced. Our audience help us to know the way and manner we write, but if you do not Page 30 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! know your audience, you will have to assume his personality. For example you are asked to write to the Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Lagos. Since you don‘t know the person in question, you will have to write based on his educational background and not his personality. Sometimes when you write or draft a document, you will have to place yourself at the audience‘s shoe.  Planning. Planning is simply the process when you: i. Organize your thought; ii. Have all the necessary materials with you; iii. Have where to write and how to write, and iv. Conduct research: at times you don‘t just write, but you will have to consult the necessary literature. Remember we said that a lawyer must be analytical i.e., he must master the law but if he wants to draft a document, he must make sure that he consults the necessary literature.  Layout. This is the structure or organization of document, i.e., is it a letter or an essay? Layout is important because documents are not just written a free flow from the first page to the last page, it needs a structural organization. It is a layout that tells you to start with the introduction, body and conclusion. Layout also shows the importance of dividing your work into paragraphs. In the actual sense, layout simply means how the document looks like. Layout could also be important in the ‗writing stage‘ as at the point of implementation because you are putting down the structure on a sheet of paper. Page 31 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Special Features of Legal Writing. a. Authority b. Formality c. Diction d. Precedent  Authority. Whenever someone from History, Medicine, or Agric writes, you may or may not see him/her citing any authority. However, if someone from Law writes, you will always see him/her citing authorities. An authority is any piece of information that gives support or strength to your points. An authority can also be seen as ―any portion of the law that is used to support your statements‖. Any assertion made in Law should be backed by authorities, which gives rise to the Law of Evidence principle of ―he who asserts must prove‖. For example, someone writing about fundamental human rights will postulate that ―everyone has the right to life‖. Yes, everyone has the right to life, but, in law, whenever you say anything, you will have to back it up with proves. For example, if you postulate that everyone has the right to life, you will have to support your postulation by making reference to section 33 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which says that ―Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life.‖ One of the things you will see in legal writing is authority and it is also one of the most important/special features of legal writing. Page 32 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Forms of Authority. Authority exists in two forms: i. Statutory authority ii. Judicial authority i. Statutory Authority This is a kind of authority that is derived from ―statutes‖. A statue is a law enacted by either the federal or state parliament. Therefore, any written form of law is a statute. Another name for a statute is ‗law‘ or ‗legislation‘, but the best synonym of statute is ‗legislation‘. ii. Judicial Authority. This simply means courts‘ decisions and that is what we call case law in the Nigeria Legal System. If a court decides a matter, the decision of the court becomes an authority, and, to some extent, used as stare decisis (judicial precedent). Therefore, be informed that whenever you write without any authority, you may not gain judgment.  Formality. One of the features of legal writing is formality. While writing, you must be careful of your diction, so that you may not end up becoming too technical or too literal. Whenever you want your writing to be formal, you can concoct statements like ―the decision of the trial court was set aside by the appellate court‖ or you can say ―there is a lawsuit between Mr A and B pending before the Supreme Page 33 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Court‖.  Diction. Diction in law can be seen as the choice of words that relates to law. Choosing a good diction will make the document to look like a legal document. In the use of diction, if someone who is not a lawyer writes, you will know. For example, a statement like ―Mr A reports Mr B in one Magistrate Court‖ will be used by someone who is not a lawyer, but a statement like ―Mr A institutes an action against Mr B‖ will be used by a lawyer or a competent law student.  Legal Vocabularies. Our aim is to teach you how to use those words whenever you see them, and if you use them, they make your work look legal. Some of those vocabularies include: i. Plaintiff: the person who institutes an action in a law court because of the breach of trust, contract or other civil issues. ii. Claimant: the person who institutes lawsuits as a result of the breach of his or her constitutional right. iii. Charge: a statement of offence or offences with which an accused is charged. iv. Complainant: includes any informant or prosecutor in any case relating to summary conviction offence. v. Defendant: any person against whom a complaint is made. Page 34 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  Precedent. Precedent in the legal parlance means ‗example‘ i.e. the way and manner a particular thing was done before. In summary, if you write, you will have to enquire if there has been a laid down example. If you use precedent, you should be very careful to change or edit the necessary pieces of information. Therefore, it is argued that precedent should be used with caution. Advantage of Precedents. i. It saves time ii. It aids in maintaining uniformity: what is important in precedent is the layout, its consistency and uniformity. Lecture 5. DRAFTING SKILLS/LEGAL WRITING SKILLS Drafting is a legal composition. Drafting is a form of Legal writing. Drafting skill means the same thing with legal writing skill. Legal writing /drafting skill is the process of expressing our thoughts through the medium of communication. Remember that the main function of a lawyer is to represent his client. The client is the master of the facts while lawyers are the masters of the laws. Legal writing may also mean the synthesis of fact and law in a written form. For instance, if a client comes to tell you that he/she has bought a plot of land, for Page 35 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! you to gather facts from him, you may need to ask him questions like; the location of the land, how much he bought the land, etc. This process of gathering the fact and marrying it with the appropriate law is called legal writing. Differences between Legal Writing and any Other Form of Writing. 1. Vocabulary: a legal practitioner uses legal terminologies while composing a draft. 2. Authority: making reference to a statute or precedent plays an important role in legal writing. 3. Persuasion: in most cases, legal writing is composed to persuade and convince the audience, which is the judge. 4. Short and precise: a good legal writing must be short and precise What is a Skill? A skill is the ability to do something well. The attribute, the technique, the intensive mental creative ability to do something unique and presentable is a skill. Some advocates argue that a draftsman is a craftsman. Therefore, he should be able to introduce a skill to make his work look special. That ability that a lawyer has to write well to organize his thought is a skill. Skills of Drafting.  Understanding the Client’s Instruction. Instructions are guidelines; they are things that regulate you on what to do. Therefore, understanding the client‘s instructions is very important since the business of a lawyer is to represent his client. The best way to understand the client‘s instruction is by client interview; this is a process whereby a legal Page 36 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! practitioner elicits all the relevant facts with a view of rendering legal services to his client. How is a Client Interview Done? For you to really understand the instruction of your client, you will have to use your knowledge of Psychology (study of the mind) to know his state of mind. A client may say that all what he or she wants is a divorce; as a legal personnel, you have the responsibility to calm him or her down. To start an effective conversation with your client, you will have to start your opening speech by introducing yourself. If he or she is not in a good mood, you can skip it. Having introduced yourself, you will have to start your conversation by either asking a close-ended question or an open-ended question. What is a Close-Ended Question? A close-ended question is a form of question that can either be answered with ‗yes‘ or ‗no‘ response, or a very specific and concise response that does not afford the client the opportunity to elaborate. Examples include:  Will you please do me a favour?  Are you feeling better today?  Is he dead?  What is your name?  What did you eat? What is an Open-Ended Question? An open-ended question is a question that requires the personnel or respondent Page 37 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! to explain in great details. It is a kind of question that gives the client the opportunity to elaborate and even narrate the chain of events. Examples include:  What transpired between you and him?  Who is Mr John?  How exactly did the fight between the two of you start?  How did you find yourself inside the house? Finally, when your client starts divulging the facts, you will have to develop an active listening technique so as to fully understand the facts divulged by the client. An active listening technique is a technique where you listen to your client actively. The first skill you need as a legal practitioner is to understand the instruction of your client. To appreciate the skill of drafting, I will refer you to my Journal ―Legal Writing: an Indispensable Skill in Legal Practice.‖ In legal practice, there are two complementary skills; advocacy and legal writing. Be informed that the success of an advocate is his ability to write to the court of law. Your ability to use skills and language is very important as well. Understanding the client‘s instruction is very important. If you write, you must display the instruction of your client in your document. Interviewing the client is another vital skill. While interviewing the client, you must create enough confidence in your client. For you to get enough facts from your client, you can ask him or her either an open-ended question or a close-ended question so as to know if there is any Page 38 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! missing piece of information. It is the totality of this document with the oral facts that makes up a draft. Note taking is another important skill when interviewing the client. While taking note, you must avoid all distractions in order to get the necessary facts. Endeavour to advise your client based on the position of the law; if, however, you are not sure about the position of the law, you will have to give him a preliminary piece of advice and later make research about the exact position of the law. After the interview, you will have to ask the client what he wants you to do for him.  Mastering of Legal Language. The minimum standard as far as the language of law is concerned is for you to understand the basic rules of grammar. Since the English Language is the language of the profession, you must master the basic rules of the English grammar so that when you write or speak, people will not look at you in an odd manner. For every trade, there are tools. The tools of legal profession are three; i. Knowledge of the law ii. Language iii. Confidence The knowledge of the law is very important in legal practice since you are the master of the law. When your client lays a complaint, it is your responsibility to know the applicable law. There is this argument that between the knowledge of the law and language, Page 39 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! which is more important? Language is very important, since it is the vehicle that helps you to air your view to the general public. No matter how beautiful your thought is or how knowledgeable you are, without the vehicle of communication, your thought is considered useless and worthless. On the other hand, some argued that knowledge of the law is more important that the language. The most applicable skill is the use of language. Confidence is simply your academic and professional courage to either speak or write with professionalism without having fear of being intimidated. Confidence is an important tool of legal practice. If you understand the language and knowledge of the law without confidence, you may feel intimidated and will not be able to convince your audience to the fullest.  Use of Plain and Simple Words. Plain English is a good professional language. The use of simple words makes your argument clear to your audience and the third party. When drafting, draft in such a way that your drafts will be so clean that the intended audience will understand. The modern trend in Legal writing is the use of simple words. So, try as much as possible to write plainly with the use of diction that will be understood by your audience. When drafting, you don‘t longer need to write high sounding words. Your usage of legal terminologies should be with caution so that you will not confuse your audience.  Use of Paragraphs. When you write without paragraphs, it looks untidy. So when you write, you have to break it into paragraphs and each paragraph should contain a single subject matter. Page 40 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Emphatically, while writing, the use of paragraphs is an important tool. Always break your work into paragraphs. While doing so, make sure that each paragraph contains different subject matter because paragraphs contain different themes.  Short Sentences. Short sentences are better understood than long sentences and whenever you use short sentences, it has the ability to present the issue in a straightforward manner. Do not write in long sentences; try to break the sentence for easy understanding.  Avoiding Ambiguity. You should use words that can clearly say what you mean. From the reading of the document, the reader should be able to predict where you are heading. For instance, ―if the dog doesn‘t like cold water, boil it.‖ From this statement, we can see that it is somewhat ambiguous as we do not know if we are too boil the water or kill the dog and boil it.  Proper Use of Punctuation Marks. Proper use of punctuation marks is very important. Punctuation mark is described as a traffic signal to the reader; they are marks that direct you and give your reader directives. It makes your document elegant if they are properly used but makes it inelegant if they are not properly used. It is important to note, however, that punctuation marks are not cosmetics, even if they are cosmetics, they should be used carefully. Compare the statements below: Page 41 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! The V.C. said ―the student is not serious‖, and ―The V.C.,‖ said the student, ―is not serious.‖ From the above example, we can see that the power of punctuation has helped to change the meaning of the statement. The first statement refers to the student as an unserious type, while the second statement refers to the V.C. as unserious.  Spelling. Most of us are guilty of spelling wrongly. Below are examples of words that can easily be spelt wrongly: i. Write/right ii. Break/brake iii. Cent/sent iv. Die/dye v. Sea/see vi. Great/grate etc.  Editing. Editing is a post-writing stage. After you finish writing your documents, you need one last skill which is editing. As a draftsman, you can‘t just write and submit, you will have to edit it by scrutinizing what you‘ve written by the time you have finished writing. Page 42 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Final Lecture. TIPS TO ANSWER EXAM QUESTION  Read and Understand the Instruction(s) Very Well: The ways of answering examination questions vary. The number one thing you should take cognizance of is the instruction of the examination. Each of the examinations comes with instructions, please, do not rush. You may be asked to answer question one as a compulsory question and then pick any other two, that makes a total of three questions. In this kind of exam, your expectation is to give special attention to question one because, usually, compulsory questions carry more marks; sometimes twenty to twenty five marks out of the forty pass mark. If you are able to answer the compulsory question very well, it means you are half-way (without your C.A.). If you don‘t understand the instruction of the question, don‘t hesitate to call the attention of the course lecturer or the invigilator in the hall.  Read the Questions Very Well and Start with the One you Understand Best. There is no rule that says you must start with number one, you can start with the first, second third and even the last question. In fact, there are times when you start with the last question. Your expectation after understanding the instruction is to read the questions. Pay attention to the compulsory question, make sure you answer it correctly and give it adequate timing. You have two hours. Page 43 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Selected English for Legal Writing I Past Questions. 1. Writing is an art, and legal writing requires the application of special mental and practical skills. In view of the above, professionally discuss the relationship between thought and language. 2. You are a junior counsel with A. A. Zunnurain & Co. after your call to the Bar. One morning, Madam Fauzau came to your office with a matrimonial problem while your Principal was away for a meeting. You called him on phone and he asked you to go ahead and professionally assist her. He however cautioned you to use your legal skills. Please, oblige Madam Fauzau. 3. The application of skills of Legal writing is as important as writing, itself. Identify and discuss five (5) skills of legal writing. 4. The general principles of legal writing demonstrate the specialty and distinctiveness of drafting legal documents. Discuss. 5. Write short notes on any two (2) of the following: a) Legal Writing. b) Educate your friend who is a medical student on the importance of mastering writing skills by law students and lawyers. c) Distinguish between Legal Method and Legal Writing. 6. Briefly trace the history of the legal profession in Nigeria. 7. Experts in communication posit that personal communication from one person to one or more others is the strongest and most persuasive means of putting across a message. Considering this assertion, comment fully on the principles of effective oral communication. 8. Figurative Language is often associated with literature and with poetry in particular. Whether we're conscious of it or not, we use figures of speech every day in our own writing and conversations. What are these figures of speech? Explain the functions of Page 44 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! any seven (7) types of figures of speech using at least two (2) relevant examples of each. 9. Mention 10 punctuation marks used in legal writing and while citing relevant examples, explain the functions of any five of them. 10. Write notes on the following: a) Paragraphing technique. b) Note taking skills. c) Note making skills. Onimisi – fluent in silence! Page 45 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! LAW 1301 – LEGAL METHODS. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF LEGAL METHODS. — Prof. Yadudu's Lecture. Legal Methods is made up of two words — "Legal", an Adjective, and "Methods", a noun. Method simply means a way of doing something. Legal means in relation to the law. Hence, Legal Methods are methods that have to do with law. It can also be seen as learning to study the use and construction of legal rules, with a view to gaining insight into how law is planned and organised to achieve its objective in the community. Nature of Law.  It is the nature of law to prescribe or define conduct — i.e., it tells you what to do and what not to do, like stealing, murder, and so on. It enjoins conduct — it imposes an obligation in you to do certain things at certain times.  It proscribes/prohibits conduct.  It takes consequences or sanctions for noncompliance.  It stipulates the procedures for establishing consequence for noncompliance. A legal norm by its nature has other attributes:  It creates rights — between individuals, societies, etc. It gives certain rights and obligations to individuals, society, and so on.  It recognises rights. Page 46 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  It protects rights.  It provides remedies for breach of rights. Legal Methods is one of the courses that gives you the process or the methodology of law, i.e., it introduces you to law. It is not a course that teaches you the law of a particular sector but rather it is a course that gives or inculcate in you the technique of ‗thinking like a Lawyer‘. That technique that gives you the rudiment of law, the process is known as ‗Legal Methods‘. The aim of Legal Methods is to teach you the methods of appreciating and applying the law as you meet it in your subsequent levels. Legal Methods can, therefore, be defined as an attempt to explain or analyse the technique of ‗thinking like a Lawyer‘. It is also the use and construction of legal rules with a view to gaining insight into how law is planned and organized to attain its objective in a society. Importance of Legal Methods 1. It helps us understand the nature and the functions of law; 2. It helps us understand the diversities of law; 3. It helps us understand how to apply legal rules; 4. It equips us with the skill of constructing legal arguments and analyses; 5. It also assists with the skills of legal reasoning for all the members of the legal profession; 6. It helps us understand how the law evolves and how to achieve its objective, and 7. It helps us understand the fundamental concepts and principles of law. Page 47 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Lecture 1. WHAT IS LAW? - Dr Aliyu Mustapha. General Overview. The word ‗law‘ has no generally agreed definition; in fact, an attempt to define law is an attempt in futility. Law is viewed from different field of study. For example, in Economics, we have the Law of diminishing return; in Physics we have numerous of laws which include: Boyle‘s law, Charles‘ law, Hooks‘ law, Ohm‘s law, etc. The Laws mentioned above have various principles guiding them and if a principle is breached, there will be no punishment accorded to it. To an active legal practitioner, he is not concerned with the definition of law, but the principles and applications of the law. As a newly admitted candidate of law (aspirant to the bar), it is very important for you to know the scope and definition of law. Keypoints to Note about Law.  Law is either "man-made" or ―divine‖.  It changes over time to accommodate society's needs.  Law is an act enacted by legislature.  Law is interpreted by courts to determine: o Whether it is constitutional; o Who is right or wrong. Page 48 of 146 Onimisi's Care !  Law is what regulates a particular country.  Law is the whole system of rules of a country.  Law is the cement that synchronizes the people in the society in a harmonious way. Characteristics of Law. 1. Dynamism; 2. Normative; 3. Man-made; 4. Binding; 5. Sanction‘; 6. Territorial. Dynamism: The opposite of dynamic is static. If a law is static, it means it does not change. According to the Oxford Advance Learners‘ Dictionary, static means ―not moving or changing‖ while dynamism means the quality of changing. Therefore, a law is dynamic when it changes with respect to time. Twenty to thirty years back there was nothing like law regulating cybercrime but with the growth of the society, there is currently a law regulating cybercrime. Therefore, be informed that ―law is a living thing; it develops with the development of the society‖. Normative: Laws are Normative in the sense that they are accepted rules and regulations to govern the people in a given society. For example, the members of the Nigeria legislature represent the people and, in return, make laws for the benefit of the people. If a law is made by the representative of the people for their benefit, it is said to be normative. Page 49 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Man-Made: Law is either made by man, or made by God to guide the conduct of men. A typical example of divine law is the Islamic Law. Shari‘ah (Islamic Law) is a law or legislation made by Allah via His Holy Prophet to guide the conducts of men. In essence, law cannot only be made by man but it can also be divine (made by God). Binding: The law made should be applicable to all its subjects. The law is supreme to all and sundry. Sanction: The process of using acceptable and reasonable mechanism to implement the law is known as sanction. Therefore the law should be enforced through the element of coercion. Territorial: In the legal parlance, a territory means a jurisdiction i.e. the location in which the law is applicable. Example includes; Acts, Laws, Decrees, Edicts, Bye-laws, Codes, etc. Lecture 2. SOURCES OF NIGERIAN LAW — Dr Nuhu. The study of the sources of Nigerian law could be carried out from two perspectives, that is, to examine the source as it relates to Origin, as well as the sources as it relates to Authority. The source by Origin covers the discussion on the historical development of Nigerian law, that is, from where Nigerian law emanated. In source by Origin, we are going to examine the various aspects of law that are put together to Page 50 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! form Nigerian law. The source by Authority, on the other hand, examines the nature of laws that a person or court relies upon in arriving at a decision. This includes; Statutory and Judicial Authority. Sources of Nigerian Law, Based on Origin. In terms of origin, Nigerian law derives its source from the following.  Received English Law.  Nigerian Legislation.  Customary Law.  Islamic Law.  Case Law. The Received English Laws in Nigeria. Received English Laws are the laws imported by the colonial masters and were received by the people of Nigeria — voluntarily or involuntarily. Before they became colonial masters, they were business people. They came to Nigeria in order to do business — in their mind, they had the intention to colonise us. They came to buy from Nigerians. When they entrenched their business activities in Nigeria, they discovered that there usually used to be disputes in their businesses. They noticed that the way we settled our disputes (Islamic Law and Customary Law) were not in line with theirs. They, therefore, refused to subject themselves to the rules of the Nigerians. Gradually, they decided that if they must do business with Nigerians, the Page 51 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Nigerians must agree to apply their own English laws. Because our people weren't very wise back then, they agreed. Most of their transactions back then were done in Lagos, because of the Sea. They seized one opportunity back then when the king of Lagos died. The European supported a Nigerian (Dosunmu) to ascend the throne. After three years, the England brought some documents to this king and asked him to sign the agreement that England should send troops to protect them in order for him to rule the people with ease. Because the king trusted them so much, he didn't bother to read the contents of the document before signing. The essence of the signature was the beginning of colonisation in Nigeria. That was how the England brought their Laws to Nigeria and started to rule Nigeria. What are these Received English Laws? They are;  Common Law.  Equity.  Statute of General Application. Common Law. Common laws are the laws common to all the people of England. Why is it Called Common Law and How Did it Come? The whole of England was a village before 1200. By 12th Century, Norman Conquest took place — it marked the beginning of a centralised system of Law in England. Before that time, each village had its own customs. It was the Norman Conquest that merged all the communities of England together. Page 52 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! By merging them together, common law came into existence. Each village in England had its own customs. The Norman king assigned Judges to the various villages of the city to settle issues. Whenever all the judges came for congress, they picked some laws, which they considered being of good conscience, from each village and that was what brought about common law. Common Laws are laws derived from the various customary laws of the various villages in England. It is the unified customary laws of the villages in England. Thus, what we have is The England Common Law. We don't have The Nigeria Common Law, because Nigeria is a country with over 250 ethnic groups with divergent tribes. You can only have common law when you have ONE tribe operating in a different system of law. How Common Law Developed. Before the Norman Conquest of 1060, the inhabitants of the present day England were governed by different types of customs. This continued even after the conquest because King Williams 1 allowed the English people to maintain their rights and laws. That is to say, the people of England continued to operate their local customary laws even after the conquest. King Williams met much diversified laws in England. Therefore, it took another two hundred years before having a central government, as well as a uniform legal system. The machinery set out to unify these diversified customs was the appointment of judges by the king in each and every local community in England. The judges so appointed used to select and apply certain customary laws and made those laws applicable in all cases rather than relying on a particular custom to Page 53 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! decide on each and every matter presented before the court. In other words, the system of laws which those judges met in their areas of jurisdiction was that each case has a particular law applicable to it. Therefore, if you have ten cases before you, you are to apply ten different customary laws. By selecting a particular customary law and making it applicable to all cases, the judges were able to arrive at a unified system. The end result of this process was that the local customs or customary laws were replaced by a body of rules applicable throughout the whole country. This body of rules is known as the common law — that is, the law which is common to all people of England. At that time, there was no parliament in England, therefore, there was no form of written law. The judges only relied on their previous decisions for guidance in order to have consistency in the application of the common law. In view of the last part of the previous paragraph, during the early time of the common law, there was no written law in England. The only law that governs the affairs of English people at that time was the common law, and the common law judges developed the law by making references to their previous decisions — this is, if a case was brought before them and they decided that case in a particular way, the decision they arrived at in that case will serve as a reference point in any subsequent similar case. This process is technically referred to as stare decisis. How Common Law Operates. The common law operates with rigidity. This rigidity led to people running to the King to get the remedies to their problems which, unfortunately, are not in the catalogue of common law. The King, in turn, would speak with the bishops surrounding him and would come up with a suitable decision for the people. Page 54 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! These current decisions that were now being reviewed and made brought about another form of English Law, called the Doctrine of Equity. Doctrine of Equity is the principle the bishops used to apply to issues that don't have remedies in the common law. The King, therefore, appointed one of these bishops surrounding him to handle the affairs of Doctrine of Equity on his behalf, as he was too busy with other monarchical duties. The bishop was given a title known as Lord Chancellor. The King opened a court for him and named the court Chancery Court. This led to having two courts in England — the High Court and the Chancery Court. The common law was applicable in the High Court while the Doctrine of Equity was applicable in the Chancery Court. This led to conflict between the common law judges and Lord Chancellor. The common law court saw the Chancery Court to be undermining its (common law court‘s) powers. It was until 1875 that the conflict was resolved by King James who made the order that all issues must first be reviewed in the High Court before taking them to the Chancery Court. Statutes of General Application. Apart from common law and equity, the British also brought to Nigeria, The Statute of General Application (S.G.A.) The British system, as we know, has its own parliament and, as at the time when they brought their laws to Nigeria, they came with the law made by the British Parliament. Page 55 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! 1st January 1900 (Cut-off date). Before the 1st of January, 1900, all Laws made by the British Parliament from 1863 till then were applicable in Nigeria. After this cut-off date, all laws passed in British Parliament stopped being applicable in Nigeria. They will be applicable in Nigeria if and only if the Nigeria Parliament accept them and modify them to become Nigeria Laws. Statutes of General Application, therefore, are the laws passed by the British Parliament that is applicable throughout the United Kingdom and also applies in Nigeria before 1st January, 1900. It can also be seen as laws passed by the British Parliament which were meant to apply to all colonies. For a Statute of General Application to be considered as one, it needs not be applicable in England — that is, British Parliament could make law that was specifically applicable to the colonies or protectorates only. In Nigeria, 1st January, 1900 is the cut-off date for the application of Statutes of General Application — i.e., any Statute passed by the British Parliament after 1st January, 1900 is not applicable in Nigeria as a Statute of General Application. The following are the examples of Statutes of General Application:  The Sales of Goods Act.  The Wills Act.  The Property and Conveyance Act...... etc. These laws are still applicable in Nigeria because our various high court laws authorize the continuation of the application. Page 56 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! It should be noted that the cut-off date mentioned above is not applicable to common law and equity. Statutes of General Application can be found in books of statutes. Common law and Equity can be found through cases (Law Reports). Customary Law. The local laws that were operative in Nigeria before the advent of the British are still in operation in Nigeria, and they shape our laws. However, not all customary laws are applicable in Nigeria. Before a native law can be applicable in Nigeria, it has to pass the validity tests. When it passes this test, it becomes a primary source of Nigerian Law. What is a Customary Law? A customary law is a general term that includes all laws that were in operation in Nigeria before the colonial rule. In the pre-colonial period, there were numerous autonomous entities in Nigeria. The Sokoto Caliphate, which comprised most parts of northern Nigeria, used Islamic law. In other parts of Nigeria, the native laws of the indigenous peoples operated as the laws of the lands. When the British colonized the territory known as Nigeria, in typical colonial fashion, they classified all indigenous laws (including Islamic Law) as customary law and subjected them to English law. This is what informed the definition of customary law in the case of Joseph Ohai vs. Samuel Akpoemonye 1999 1 SCNJ 73 @ 77as: ―any system of law not being the common law and not being a law enacted Page 57 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! by any competent legislature in Nigeria but which is enforceable and binding within Nigeria as between the parties subject of its sway.‖ From this definition, the courts would recognise all laws that are neither common law nor enacted by the legislature as customary law. Establishment of the Customary Law. There are two methods of proving or establishing customary laws in the system of this country before a superior court of record. They are: i. Judicial notice ii. Proof of Evidence The above methods of establishing a customary law is provided for in section 14(1) of the Evidence Act. The citation goes thus: ‖a custom may be adopted as part of the law governing a particular set of circumstances if it can be noticed judicially or can be proved to exist by evidence; the burden of proving a custom shall lie upon the person alleging its existence.‖ Essentially, this section provides the existence of customary law in two parts; the first part is by judicial notice or proof of evidence and the second part is that the burden of prove of a customary law will be upon the person who asserts to the existence of such customary law.  Judicial Notice. The circumstance which brings about the rule of customary law to be judicially noticed by the court of law is contained under section 14(2) of the Evidence Act which provides thus: Page 58 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! ‖A custom may be judicially noticed by the court if it has been acted upon by a court of superior or coordinate jurisdiction in the same area to an extent which justifies the court asked to apply it in assuming that the person or the class of persons is concerned in that area look upon the same as binding in relation to circumstances similar to those under consideration.‖ Essentially, what this refers to is that a custom will be judicially noticed if it has been acted upon by a superior court or a court of coordinate jurisdiction in the same territory that it is being tested. These are the only two circumstances in which customs can be judicially noticed. For a custom to be judicially noticed, the court will have to inquire if any court above it has acted upon that customary law or (if there is no superior court that has acted upon it) if there is any court that the court is of the same power and status existing in the same territorial jurisdiction that has acted upon that particular customary law. If there is, then the court can take that particular customary law. These are the only circumstances which the provision of section 14(1) and (2) of the Evidence Act has been reported to take judicial notice of. Note that the superior court or the court of coordinate jurisdiction that has acted on that customary law must exist in the same territorial jurisdiction. The reason why they must exist within the same territorial jurisdiction is that the ethnic customary law is applicable to its territorial jurisdiction. Apart from it to be judicially noticed, the custom must be recognized or accepted by the people in the territorial location. Before the enactment of the Evidence Act, a court took judicial notice of a particular customary law if it had been frequently acted upon. What we mean here is that the court would inquire to know if a superior court has acted upon Page 59 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! that particular custom severally (if cases have been decided by a superior court based on the applicability of the custom, the court is left with no choice but to follow the decision of the superior court).  Proof of Evidence. This will only come in place if the court does not take proper judicial notice. The second part of the establishment of the customary law in the court of law is the proof of evidence. This is stipulated in section 14(3) of the Evidence Act which says: ―…where a custom cannot be established as one judicially noticed it may be established and adopted as part of the law governing particular circumstances by calling evidence to show that person or the class of person concerned in the particular area regard the alleged custom as binding upon them.‖ Customary law is always centralized in the issue of acceptance and recognition; the people must accept and recognize it before it can become a law binding on them. As we have been saying, the burden of proving the existence of a customary law is based upon the person who alleges its existence. Therefore, a person who alleges the existence of a customary law before a court of law is required to adduce adequate materials since a customary law is presumed to be established through evidence. The existence of customary law can be proved using either the testimony of experts or books/manuscripts. Section 57 of the Evidence Act refers to the expert testimony. What the experts do is to give their own opinion about customary law. This section says that: ―When the court has to form an opinion upon a point of foreign law, native law Page 60 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! or custom, or of science or art, or as to identity of hand writing or finger impressions, the opinions upon that point of persons specially skilled in such foreign law, native law or custom, or science or art or in question as to identity of hand writing or finger impressions are relevant facts.‖ The experts mentioned here are chiefs, elders and traditional rulers who are considered as the custodian of the customary practices. Section 58 of the Evidence Act provides for the use of books and manuscripts, which provides that you can use books to prove the existence of customs. According to this section, in deciding the question of native laws and customs, any book or manuscript recognized by the natives as their legal authority containing their customary practices is relevant, and it is obvious that a book or manuscript may be used in the court of law in determining the question of customary law only if the book or manuscript is recognized by the indigenous people of that particular community as an authoritative document containing their customary practice. The Validity Test. Nigerian customary law has its fair share of laws that we would outrightly consider abhorrent. A very popular instance is the killing of twins that Mary Slessor stopped in the pre-colonial Calabar. There were also numerous other gory instances like human sacrifice. It was due to instances like this that the colonialists created the validity tests. Before the court can apply a custom in Nigerian jurisdiction, it has to pass these validity tests. The validity tests have remained in Nigerian legislation since the colonial times. Page 61 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! In the present dispensation, you can find them in the High Court Laws of the various states and the FCT. According to S. 44 of the High Court Law of Oyo State (1978), Customary Law would be applicable in the court if it is not: — Repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience. — Contrary to public policy. — Incompatible directly or by implication with any law for the time being in force. The Evidence Act 2011 also provides in S. 18 (3) that a custom would not be applicable as a law if it is contrary to public policy or is repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience. Natural Justice, Equity, and Good Conscience It can be quite tricky to try getting an exact meaning of natural justice, equity and good conscience. The concept of natural justice and equity varies from society to society. Some societies view respect for elders as immutable while some pay a passing reference to it. Regardless of this confusion, we can get a bearing on the meaning of this term by looking at the various decisions of the court. The case of Dawodu vs. Danmole which was a case about the Yoruba law of inheritance is very illustrative to this effect. Under this custom, if a man dies intestate with multiple wives, his property was divided according to the number of wives he left behind. As a result, all the children of one wife inherited the property allocated to the wife‘s branch of the family. For instance, if Tofunmi has two children and Tayo Page 62 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! has six children, the property of Tayo‘s children would be the equal to Tofunmi‘s children‘s share. The Yoruba called this the idi igi system of inheritance. The trial court ruled that this custom was repugnant to natural justice. This was because it negated the common law doctrine of equality of inheritance among the children. At the appeal, the appellate court allowed the appeal. They stated that it would be erroneous to import doctrines of natural justice that applied in a monogamous society to a polygamous one like Nigeria. An instance of a case where the courts did not apply a custom because it was not compatible with natural justice is the case of Guri vs. Hadejia Native Authority. In this case, the custom in question was one that didn‘t allow a suspected Highway robber to defend himself in court. The court did not apply this custom because it was contrary to the principle of fair hearing. A Custom has to be Compatible with Public Policy. A custom will not apply on the grounds of public policy if it undermines the already established laws. In the case of Cole vs. Akinleye, the custom in question was one concerning the legitimacy of children born out of wedlock. Under Yoruba custom, if a father acknowledges a child born out of wedlock as his child, he would become a legitimate child. This means that he would have an equal right to inheritance along with those born legitimately in the marriage. In the case, the father acknowledged the illegitimate child while he had other legitimate children under the Marriage Ordinance. The court held that equating the right of a child born out of wedlock with the rights of children born under the Marriage Ordinance would be contrary to public policy. Page 63 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! The rationale behind the decision was that the Marriage Ordinance was of colonial origin. As a result, any custom that would try to undermine a colonial law would be contrary to public policy. If a customary law can pass these validity tests, it is well on its way to becoming a primary source of Nigerian law. Islamic Law, is a portion of the customary law except in the Northern Nigeria. Up till the year 2000, Islamic Law was generally a portion of customary law. It was in year 2000 that Sharia court was established in the north which lead to the separation of the duo in NORTHERN NIGERIA ALONE. Features of Customary Law.  It is flexible.  It is unwritten.  It comprises the customs of the people.  It is superstitious.  It is linked to some deity. Nigerian Legislation. Legislation is the law passed by the legislature. The Nigerian legislature comprises of the National Assembly (Federal Level) and the State House of Assembly (State Level). The Federal level is called House of Senate while the State level is called House of Assembly. Page 64 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! The laws passed by the National Assembly are called ACTS. The laws passed by the State House of Assembly are called LAWS. DECREES are legislations the central government make during a military regime. (All Decrees, by Section 315 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are now known as Acts). EDICTS are laws that the regional/state government make during a military regime. (All Edicts are now known as Laws, by section 315 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria). BYE-LAWS are legislations by the local government's legislative authority. They are called bye-laws in both military and civilian regime. Nigerian Legislation is divided into two;  Primary Legislation — the legislation made by the federal and state government.  Secondary/Subsidiary Legislation — legislations made by any body outside the federal and state. The only primary legislations are acts, decrees, edicts and laws. Bye-laws are subsidiary legislations. The only bodies entitled to make laws in Nigeria are the National Assembly and State House of Assembly, and the legislations they make are called Primary Legislations. Any legislation made by any body aside the recognised body (National Assembly and State House of Assembly) falls under the Secondary/Subsidiary Page 65 of 146 Onimisi's Care ! Legislation, and the body must be backed by, at least, one of the two recognised bodies. Hence, local government legislative bodies, which are councillors, make legislations that fall under the subsidiary legislation. Case Law. Case laws are laws that emanate from judicial decisions as regards to a particular case or specific legal situation which has been formulated over the years. The principle of case law or judicial precedent is based on ‗stare decisis‘ which means stand by what has been decided. What is Stare Decisis? The doctrine of stare decisis is the principle of English law that precedents are authoritative, binding and must be followed unless there is a reason to deviate from them. For this principle to work, we need a well-established judicial system. Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides a well- established judicial system in Nigeria by empowering the courts to interpret the Law and administer justice. This section does not only empower the judiciary, it also gives room for the establishment of courts. The courts established by this section are known as the Superior Courts of Record. Any form of decision from the Superior Courts of Record

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