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Legal Care in Nigeria: Beginnings
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
Extract
This article is a condensed version of a much longer paper,* the purpose of which was to explore the viability of the approach to legal care which has been adopted by Nigeria within the cultural background and the prevailing social and economic conditions. In the original, therefore, there were additional sections devoted to: (a) the concept of legal care, including a brief examination of the role of the lawyer in developing countries, (b) the social and economic background, and (c) the difficulties experienced by accused persons within a plurality of cultural, language and legal systems. It is not possible to deal with these topics adequately within the space of a short article, and the main focus will, therefore, be the legal aid scheme itself, except for some brief background remarks in the introduction.
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- Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1980
References
* The data on the Nigerian legal aid scheme were collected in the course of personal research conducted during an eight-week visit in July and August, 1978. This was concentrated in Lagos and Oyo States in the South, and Kaduna State in the North, while brief visits were also made to Kano, Plateau and Borno States. My visit was made possible by a grant from the School of Oriental and African Studies and by the generosity and hospitality of both Nigerians and expatriates whom I met in the course of my travels. A comparative study with other African countries is unfortunately, not possible because information of a similar depth does not exist. There is, however, an excellent survey by Reyntjens (1979) which utilises the limited data available.
1 357,000 square miles. The population is estimated to be 80 to 100 million.
2 Arnold, 1977.
3 Survey carried out by the International Legal Aid Association, App. 1: 7.
4 The Guardian, 11 August, 1980, 21—”Special Report on Nigeria”.
5 Known in Hausa as karuwanci. A woman marries 3 times, on average, between puberty and the menopause. Karuwanci is a means of maintaining independence between marriages, and of finding a husband. It is not to be confused with prostitution (Pittin, 1979. Cohen, 1969. Smith, 1960).
6 Ibid, with the addition of: Amusan, 1977; Boserup, 1970; Green, 1947; Hill, 1969, 1972, 1977; Marris, 1961; McCall, 1961; Ottenberg, 1959.
7a Area and customary courts have jurisdiction over a range of offences under the Penal and Criminal Codes, civil matters subject to limitations on the amount of awards, and local customary law. In addition, area courts have jurisdiction in Sharia law.
7b Read (1979) notes that under the new Constitution which came into force on 1 October, 1979, the right to legal representation is no longed waived in the case of Customary and Area courts. (148–149). However, the “White Paper on the Federal Military Government's Views on the Report of the Customary Courts Reform Committee (1978)” accepted the committee's recommendation that legal practitioners should not practise in Customary courts (Collett, 1978, 171, para. 12.) It remains to be seen, therefore, whether this constitutional right becomes enforced.
7c These figures were obtained from the High Court Register. It is possible, however, that in a few instances the register had not been updated.
8 The Criminal Justice (Release from Custody) (Special Provisions) Decree, 1977 and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979, s. 32 (4) (a) and (b).
9 In July, 1978, Oyo State D.P.P.'s office had a strength of 12 against an establishment of 59: personal communication, D.P.P., Oyo State.
10 Oyo State, July, 1978: 16 magistrates' courts sitting in 5 towns and 17 High Court judges sitting in Ibadan. 146 customary courts in 30 or more different locations: personal communication, Deputy Chief Registrar, High Court, Ibadan.
11 For example, see Karibi-White, 1977.
12a Much of the information on delay was obtained from the Chief Registrar of the High Court, Kaduna and confirmed in other States.
12b Decree No. 59 of 1979, Federal Court of Appeal (Amendment) Decree extends “the period for giving notice of appeal in a criminal cause or matter” from 30 days to 90. This is not likely to benefit the majority of ordinary citizens convicted of a criminal offence, however.
13 Report of the Royal Commission on Legal Services, 1979 Cmnd. 7648. Discussed by Graham Zellick, The Guardian, 17 December, 1979.
14 Personal communication with the L.A.C.
15 Osakwe, 1979:5.
16 Cottrell, 1978:79.
17 Clement Uchema Osakwe, formerly responsible for the Zambian scheme.
18a The method of appointment has been modified by Decree No. 34 of 1978.
18b But see 7b above.
19a Sokoto State—₦10.000 and a Peugeot 504 Estate; Zamfara Textile Industries, Kaduna—₦1,000; a private lawyer—₦500. Press release from the L.A.C.
19b This was raised during 1980 to ₦1.200 p.a. (West Africa, 5 January, 1981).
20 All newly qualified professional men and women are required to spend one year working for the government in their own field.
21 Cottrell discusses this anomaly in some detail in [1978] J.A.L., 78.
22 Correspondence from the L.A.C., 9 August, 1979.
23a I found many lawyers who were not aware of the anomalies in Schedule 2. There was also a wide range of opinions over which offences qualify.
23b The Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree, 1970 was modified by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Certain consequential Repeals, etc.) Decree, No. 105, 1979, which came into force on the advent of civilian rule on 1 October, 1979. Thus, s. 5 which laid down the constitution of what was essentially a military tribunal was substituted with a new section which reads: “Offences under this Decree shall be triable in the High Court of the State concerned”. Section 6— the procedure for the trial of offences, s. 7 which gave power to the state military governor to vary sentence or “disallow … a conviction”, and s. 8 («) which took away the right of appeal—are all repealed.
24 Schedule 2 to the amendment decree (Appendix II) uses the words, “wholly or partly in respect of crimes of the following description”.
25 Form L.A.C. 1 is designed for use by judges and magistrates; it is similar to L.A.C. 2. L.A.C. 2a is used for criminal appeals.
26 The Nigerian legal profession is not a divided one.
27 Personal communication with the Director of the L.A.C, London, July, 1979.
28 From personal copy of the text. Note: there is only one lawyer in Gongola State.
29 Personal communication with Attorneys-General or their staff in Kaduna, Borno, Plateau and Oyo States and also with private lawyers.
30 Personal communication with Justice O. Ayoola, Ibadan.
31 The Legal Aid Annual Report, No. 29, 1978–79.
32 Information on Borno State from the Att.-Gen., and on Bauchi from an N.Y.S.C. lawyer who worked there for one year.
33 Personal communication with the N.Y.S.C. lawyer concerned.
34 The official record, Appendix III, shows only 5 cases disposed of.
35 Personal communication with the Chief Registrar of the magistrates' court, Kaduna.
36 See p. 238 below.
37 Personal communication with the Director of the Nigerian Law School.
38 The Solicitor-General of Kaduna State “suggested that N.Y.S.C. lawyers should not be conducting legal aid cases, especially when fresh from school”, New Nigerian, 29 August, 1978, 3. Jill Cottrell considers it unconstitutional because it prohibits choice of counsel (1978:82). However, Awolowo v. Ministry of Internal Affairs (1966) 1 All N.L.R. 178 decides that the Constitution cannot be read in isolation from all the circumstances of the case.
39 I had quite a lot of contact with “corpers” during my visit.
40 It was impossible to get detailed information about legal aid cases in most States visited because the files had disappeared with the outgoing batch of “corpers”.
41 It will be noted that there are discrepancies between figures for disposed cases given in the text, and the official figures.
42 9 applications which were granted in Kaduna State on 1 November, 1977. 7 cases which came before the courts in Oyo State by 17 July, 1978 and 6 cases disposed of in Bauchi State by the end of June, 1978. All were homicides.
43 Statistics collected from court records by the author.
44 Ibid.
45 Personal communication with the Director of the L.A.C.
46 Personal communication with the Att.-Gen., Borno State.
47 The sceptics would argue that the alkali/president is more likely to succumb to inducements from those with the ability to provide them than the Bench in the higher courts.
48 Chief magistrates' court, Lagos city, 20 July, 1978. An accident insurance claim which had been in progress for exactly 3 years was adjourned once again.
49a The latter is also an argument used for the abolition of the lay magistrates system in England: see James Moreton, The Guardian, 4 August, 1980:7.
49 In the North, magistrates' courts are called district courts when they hear civil cases. In the first half of 1978, only 13 civil suits were filed in district courts for the whole of Kaduna State compared with 51,037 in Area Courts for 1975—full year. (Collett, 1978.) The reason, given by the Chief Registrar, is that people would much rather take litigation to the area courts.
50 Louis Blom-Cooper (The Guardian, 3 December, 1979:8) stresses the need for a broader education of lawyers in this country if they are to be effective both in the profession and in other spheres of activity.
51 This is also a criticism made by the Report of the Royal Commission on Legal Services of the handling of legal aid applications by Magistrates' courts in this country, where there are wide variations between one court and another. See Table 14.2, 157.
52 Cf. the recent report of the Royal Commission on Legal Services.
53 This is a view expressed by Justice O. Ayoola, Ibadan.