Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Academic Directorate Journals
Not a member yet
84 research outputs found
Sort by
The challenges of implementation of the Nigerian terrorism prevention act 2011
No full textTerrorism remains a major threat to Nigeria‖s peace and security. Terrorism is not peculiar to Nigeria, but a feature of modern society. The attacks on New York and Washington, America in 2001, and more recently, the Madrid and London bombings in 2004 and 2005, has shown a new wave of terrorism on the international scene. That portrays a new trend of security that faced Europe in recent years. In Nigeria, the absence of insufficient legal framework and the inertia of the Nigeria authorities in the wake of Boko Haram insurgency and threats to life has shown the unpreparedness of the implementation mechanism. In Nigeria, a year before September 11, 2001, the US Department of State in its annual report on global terrorism, identified the Niger Delta as a volatile breeding ground for militant, impoverished ethnic groups, for whom terrorist attacks, (abduction; hostage taking, kidnapping and extra judicial killings) were part of their stock in trade. It took Nigeria approximately a period of ten years after the devastating September 2011, terrorist attack on the World Trade centre popularly known as the 9/11 attack, to come up with a comprehensive blue print, the Anti-terrorism Legislation, in the form of the TPA 2011 (as amended). This work applies the primary and secondary methods and provided useful recommendations for a successful implementation of the TPA. It is submitted that until the root causes that make Nigeria a fertile ground, such as poverty, joblessness, as a result of massive unemployment, unresolved conflicts, social injustices that has given rise to Massob, Afenifere, MEND and other ethnic militias including corruption in high places are addressed, Nigeria may still have to content with the monster for a very long time
Imperatives for the use of plain English in drafting: basic rules or getting it right
No full textLanguage being the major means of communication is characterised by spoken or written words. In organised societies, language is central to legislation, articles, agreements, contracts, court processes and other legal documents. In the case of legislation, prior to the legislators passing the bills into laws, the drafter is faced with the responsibility of relaying the spoken words or intentions of the sponsor of such bills into a draft. The same also applies to legal practitioners, scholars, and researchers that engage in legal writing and legal drafting to ensure that the document is clear and easy to understand. Gone are the days where legal practitioners are commended for being verbose. The growth of the legal profession has shown that such verbosity cause harm rather than good and does not relay the spirit of the legislation and other legal documents, as the case may be. This paper takes legislative drafters and by extension, legal practitioners, scholars and researchers through a drafting style that will aid clarity in the drafting of legislation and legal documents
Domesticating treaties in Nigeria: issues of federalism and role of legislature under the 1999 constitution
No full textTreaties represent an important instrument by which States undertake and accept responsibilities in the international arena. Nigeria as a federation in furtherance of its international relations entered into a number of multi-lateral and bilateral treaties. Nigeria also through its Constitution expressly provide for treaty making process and procedure and how treaties can acquire the force of law in the country. however, despite the country's federal structure, states and local governments have not been able to fully participate in domestication of treaties. But while state Houses of Assembly play the role of ratification, the local government legislatures play no role at all. This situation is not in conformity with the principle and practice of federalism. The trend since independence has been to make domestication of treaties an exclusive responsibility of the federal government, ignoring the role of states and local governments as federating units. This paper examines how the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria addresses issues of federalism and domestication of treaties. It argues that in a true federalism, the local government legislatures like the State Houses of Assembly should be involved in domestication of treaties. Doing this will be in tandem with the principle and practice of federalism as obtains in other jurisdictions. It further argues that unless the constitutional arrangement of domestication of treaties conforms to the principle of federalism whereby power of domestication of treaty is shared among the federal, the State and the Local government legislatures, it cannot be said that true federalism exists in the country. The paper concludes that as federalism entails government based on constitutional sharing of power between and among the federating units, there is need to involve all the three components of government in domestication of treaties in Nigeria. This should be done a review of the 1999 Constitution so as to make it a true federal constitution
An assessment of the legal framework for accountability in the public service of Nigeria
No full textAccountability in the public sector is a prerequisite for achieving good governance. It comprises the arrangements put in place to ensure that the intended outcomes for public officers are well defined and achieved through the rule of law, transparency, good financial management, leadership capability, sustainable management, and openness. The paper analysed the legal framework for accountability in the public service in Nigeria, and also considered the nature, transformation and importance of accountability in the public service generally. The paper finds that accountability is paramount in the public service in a country being a tool through which a democratic government can achieve good governance. The paper recommends that there should be no exception to compliance with Treasury Single Account Policy of the Government, as it has been found to be useful in plugging leakages in revenue generation and remittances to the federation account, the paper also recommends that civil societies and the citizens at large should be encouraged to demand accountability from public officers and all stakeholders concerned must be willing to adhere to accountability laws and policies, as it has been observed that the application of such laws in Nigeria is a challenge in practice