IMPACT OF THE JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION OF REPUGNANCY DOCTRINE ON THE CUSTOMARY LAWS AND CUSTOMARY PRACTICES IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The introduction of the British Common Law, the Doctrine of Equity and the Statute of General Application by Ordinance 3 of 1863 into Nigeria did not abolish the customary law of the people. Rather, the statute introducing such English Laws expressly made provision to the effect that British established courts in Nigeria should observe and enforce the observance of the Customary Law of the people. However, it is instructive to state that Ordinance 4 of 1876 provided for the preservation of such customary laws in clear and unambiguous terms. Section 18 of Ordinance 4 of 1876 enjoined the British established courts in the colony to enforce the observance of the customary laws of the people of the colony.
Subsequent local legislations over the years have since continued to retain these legislation. In essence, every High Court in each of the twenty one jurisdictions in the country is enjoined to observe and enforce the customary law of the people in its area of jurisdiction. In the light of the above, there are however, three pre-requisites to be fulfilled before the court can observe and enforce any customary law and these are: the customary law must not be repugnant to natural justice equity and good conscience,and that such customary law must not be incompatible either directly or by implication with any law for the time being in force, or Contrary to public policy.
The pre-occupation of the research is a protruding insight into the meaning of the doctrine and its applicability in Nigeria. Of note is its applicability and relevance on our socio-cultural environment. The trend of discussions in this work is to enquire into the origin of the doctrine, the purpose and limit of law, nature and classification of customary laws and the basic statutory provisions such as Section 14(3) of the Evidence Act and Section 15 of the High Court Law of Akwa Ibom State 1 which contains the repugnancy and public policy test. Finally we will carefully examine the judicial approach and the implication of this approach to our legal and socio-political.
Terms of Use: This is an academic paper. Students should NOT copy our materials word to word, as we DO NOT encourage Plagiarism. Only use as a guide in developing your original research work. Thanks.
Disclaimer: All undertaking works, records, and reports posted on this website, eprojectguide.com are the property/copyright of their individual proprietors. They are for research reference/direction purposes and the works are publicly supported. Do not present another person’s work as your own to maintain a strategic distance from counterfeiting its results. Use it as a guide and not duplicate the work in exactly the same words (verbatim). eprojectguide.com is a vault of exploration works simply like academia.edu, researchgate.net, scribd.com, docsity.com, course hero, and numerous different stages where clients transfer works. The paid membership on eprojectguide.com is a method by which the site is kept up to help Open Education. In the event that you see your work posted here, and you need it to be eliminated/credited, it would be ideal if you call us on +2348064699975 or send us a mail along with the web address linked to the work, to eprojectguide@gmail.com. We will answer to and honor each solicitation. Kindly note notification it might take up to 24 – 48 hours to handle your solicitation.