International records / OpenAlex research

Jurisdiction in customary law matters in Nigeria: a critical examination

Since the British established the first statutory native courts in Nigeria, attempts have been made to reserve for such courts original civil jurisdiction in customary law matters which were considered to be within the peculiar knowledge of traditional authorities, who, consistently with the indirect rule system, normally manned the tribunals. The first legislative measure reserving original civil jurisdiction for the statutory native courts was the Protectorate Courts Ordinance, 1933 which established a High Court for that part of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria known as the Protectora…