The Jurisprudence of Law Reform In Nigeria
The Jurisprudence of Law Reform in Nigeria
by Alaba J. Babalola.
The purpose of law in a society is to keep order and maintain justice among other things. But society itself changes, so that what constitutes order and what is needed to bring about that order may change also. Therefore, for the law to serve its purpose and remain relevant in the way that it protects the citizens of a nation by providing the basis for order, peace and justice, the law itself must undergo some changes as time goes by.
The legal authority for law reform in Nigeria is the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Act 1979, which establishes the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, an independent advisory body charged with the responsibility of reviewing existing legislations and recommending changes to them.
The aim of law reform is to ensure that existing laws are relevant, fair, simple and cost effective in the way they are applied to the end that justice is served and the society is enriched by it. Reforming the law means to ammend, improve it by change of form, presentation of it, or by removal of faults or obsolete parts of it, and /or amalgamation of related parts, so that it can better
serve its purpose as an effective part of the rule of law and a reflection of the positive moral progression of society.
Law reform in practice can involve codification and/or consolidation of specific laws or statutes in force or governing a country or region within it. Codification refers to the collection and systematic arrangement of a body of laws, usually by subject and numerals, while Consolidation means the method of integrating relevant or related aspects of laws, statutory instruments or regulations, which may include previous ammendments of them, into one Act of legislation. The aim of both method would be to make the provision of the revised legislation easier to access, understand and interpret.
All law reform efforts involve research to examine how a particular legislation in force is relevant to society and how it may be improved to make it more effective. Such examination would also involve how the society is changing and what is required to meet the aspirations of citizens and the expectation of government in respect of maintaining order and justice. Research must be based on knowledgeable, insightful review of law concepts and must be properly analyzed to give policy and law makers good information about how an extant law may be reformed and administered in the form of legal practices that are current, civilized and comparable to good practices around the world.
So, to arrive at this preffered position, old laws must be
revised; to codify, consolidate, ammend or repeal them as necessary in order to prepare a new edition which is expected to serve the society better.
The procedure for conducting law reform in Nigeria consists of the following process:
1. The law reform commission receives a term of reference, usually from the executive arm of government, requesting a review of a certain existing body of laws or statutes for the purpose of reform.
2. The commission conducts the necessary research and consultations with the relevant stakeholders in the judicial system and the society at large.
3. The consultation papers are released with a call for submissions and comments in respect of recommendations made by social commentators, legal experts and law makers.
4. A final report of the recommendations is produced and filed with the Attorney General of the Federation, who may then pass it to the Federal Executive Council (F.E.C).
5. If the report of the commission is approved by the F.E.C, it becomes a proposal which is then sent to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill , which must pass through the legislative process before it becomes
a new law that can be enforced.
Law reform proposal can take many years before it becomes law because of the procedures and bureaucracy involved. How long it takes exactly depends on how smooth and straightforward the reform process is and how committed the institutions involved with the process are. Since its inception, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission has processed many law reform proposals but the associated recommendations in respect of these are generally never implemented or delayed endlessly due to lack of political will or conflict of interests on the part of either the executive or legislative arm of government. Reform proposals such as the Unification of the Penal Code and the Criminal Code Bill, Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Bill, Victims of Crimes Remedies Bill and others have been in the ‘reform limbo’ for ever. The Petroleum Industry Bill has only just emerged as an Act of the Nigerian legislature after many years it had been proposed.
There are many legislation in our statute books that are inoperative, obsolete or in dire need of reform before they can address current needs of society. A good example of such updated legislation is the Prisons Act of 2004 which was conceptually revitalized and renamed the Nigerian Correctional Services Act 2019. Except for a few laws here and there not much reform has been done despite the fact that a commission was set up by an Act of Parliament with the sole
responsibility for legal reform in Nigeria.
It is obvious that the cog in the wheel of law reform in Nigeria is the lack of political will or conflict of interest on the part of both the executive and legislative arm of government through whom the reform proposals must be passed into law. The reform process is long and subject to much bureaucracy which explains the delays and impediments experienced when the reform reports are passed from the NLRC to the Attorney General and the Federal Executive Committee. It may be more expedient to have the NLRC pass its report directly to the National Assembly where it may then be examined by an appropriate committee with representatives of the law reform stakeholders including the Attorney General’s office and that of the F.E.C. This appears to be a more straightforward procedure that can ensure timely implementation of reform proposals.
The Nigerian Law Reform Commission needs better funding than they are currently being provided. This is the general viewpoint of many commentators and experts. Law reform involves enormous amount of work and require tremendous resources in funds and manpower. Given how important it is for our laws to be up to date and relevant, the government should consider making adequate financial provisions for effective running of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission.
The third arm of government, the Judicature, particularly the erudite Judges in that jurisdiction should perhaps be more concerned about the state of our laws since the law is ‘their essential tool of business’ and they can very well be regarded as the custodian of it. They should be the frontliners and advocates for reforms and a smooth procedure for carrying them out. Ordinarily though, decisions handed down in cases in the courts tend to have some reforming effects, but such are too limited compared to an elaborate process with profound reviews mentioned above. Also, it is doubtful that a whole body of laws or statute can autonomously be subjected to a judicial review for the specific purpose of reforming it with the effect of a judgment in a case law.
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