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PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Nigerian political history dated back to the pre-colonial era. The various  ethnic groups had one form or system of political and judicial set up that were distinct and peculiar to each ethnic group. In the Northern part of Nigeria there was well established monarchical form of government, and its judicial system was based on the sharia which was strongly influenced by Islam. The Yoruba of the south west of Nigeria equally had a monarchical form of government (based on the cultural set up of the society) and the judicial system was based on the royal court of the “Obas”. The South East had a loose form of government based  on community headship of splinter groups without a central power as it was the case in the north and south west of the country, while the judicial system was the same “Communal market system of adjudication”.

The prominent judicial system in the North was the “Alkali courts” presided over by the Emirs or the Alkalis (judges) who were very versatile in sharia law. The South west had courts similar with those in the North which were based on the traditions, customs and practices of the area, these were called “kotu oba or kotu Asipa” depending on who was the presiding judge. The judiciary continued to build up its standard from this period up to when the country attained its independence in 1960. One can conveniently insinuate that the success of the judiciary today had been laid long time ago by founding fathers. It is always construed by parties on both sides as either the victory for the rule of law (in a win case) and perversion of justice (on the losing side) but all these is human frailties, thus this is an eye opener to the issues of administration of justice in Nigerian courts. Administration is like a diamond having many facets. The facet would concentrate upon or concern ourselves with in this essay is that one that relates to justice.

Nigeria is a very large country with very high percentage of citizens many of whom goes to court to ventilate their grievances at the slightest provocation, excuse or justification. But most of them are faced with ejection clause (s), where the jurisdiction of the court is not ousted, there might be difficulty of meeting the phenomenal cost of litigation, payment of court fees, summons fees, the payment for records of proceedings including cases going on appeal, the payment of lawyers’ fees and disobedience to court orders, all these pit falls identified call for changes which form the inspiration for writing this project.

The Nigerian judiciary has come under severe criticism and condemnation recently on account of the quality of its rulings. The popular perception is that the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, by its decisions, are detached and out of sync with the aspirations of the peoples and the requirements of national development.

Although law is a specialty, the knowledge of which is mainly possessed minds trained in the intricacy of jurisprudence, there is nothing esoteric about it as the elementary principles of justice, seen largely from the prism of the common man also forms part of justice. Indeed it is a cardinal principle of justice that the common man must see the whole process of adjudication as being fair to all parties.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Corruption is deeply rooted in every facet of the Nigerian polity it is phenomenon that exists in innumerable forms, knows no cultural boundaries, operates in the private as well as the public sector and defies comprehensive definition. Despite the adverse impact of corruption on democratic governance in Nigeria The reverberating effects of the failure of leadership, corruption and bad governance are being felt across all sectors and segments of Nigeria polity; unemployment, insecurity, crude oil thefts, dearth of infrastructures, problems in education, health services, transportation, accommodation, communication, to mention a few. Corruption in the judicial arm of government in a democratic society appears to be a global problem. It is not restricted to a specific country or region. Yet manifestations of corruption seem to be at their worst in developing countries and countries in transition. It is now an undisputable fact that corruption is one of the main obstacles to peace, stability, sustainable development, democracy, and human rights around the globe. International and regional human rights instruments recognize as fundamental the right of everyone to due process of law, including to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law. The importance of this right in the protection of human rights is underscored by the fact that the implementation of all other rights depends upon proper and fair administration of justice. An essential element of the right to a fair trial is an independent and impartial tribunal. Another inherent element of a fair trial is the procedural equality of parties, the so-called “equality of arms”. Against the above background it is argued that where the judicial system is corrupt, no such elements will exist. Judicial corruption influences undue access to and outcome of judicial decisions. The decisions will remain unfair and unpredictable and consequently the rule of law will not prevail. If one of the parties has bribed the judge or other court official and obtained access to documents to which the other party has no access, or caused documents to disappear, there can be no equality of arms.

1.3     RESEARCH QUESTION         

1.     What are the causes of corruption in Nigeria judiciary system

2.     What is the effect of corruption on the judicial system in Ogun state

3.     What is the prospect of the Nigeria judicial system in Ogun state

1.4       AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

The aim of this studies is to critically study the problems and prospects of judicial administration in Ogun state of Nigeria. The objectives are:

1.     Find out the causes of corruption in Nigeria judiciary system

2.     Find out the effect of corruption on the judicial system in Ogun state

3.     Investigate the prospect of the Nigeria judicial system in Ogun state

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Ho: there is no significant effect of corruption on the judicial system in Nigeria

Hi: there is significant effect of corruption on the judicial system in Nigeria

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The idea of the research work is on the problems and prospects of judicial administration in Ogun state of Nigeria.

This project covers a range of subject peculiar to the administration of justice in Nigeria. It covers the historical evolution of judicial system before the colonial intervention. It also covers the procedural problems in the administration of justice, Institutional problems in the administration of justice, Independence of the judiciary in all the courts in Nigeria generally. These are the aspects to be covered in this project.

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