A comparative analysis of the court structures in Nigeria and South Africa

Abstract

This research is centered on carrying out a comparison between the current court systems (with particular reference to structures) in Nigeria and South Africa. A pertinent question that comes to bear in relation to court systems, is whether the current court structure in South Africa should be adopted by Nigeria? The response to this question is vital for the avoidance of the adoption of a court structure by Nigeria basically for the reason of its seeming successful implementation in South Africa without giving credence to other factors like the salient distinctiveness of their experiences and the legal systems that operate in both countries which I addressed in the dissertation. In this dissertation, I specifically concentrated on the various courts currently adopted by each country. In chapters three and four, I indentified and examined all the courts in the current court structure of each country, their composition, role, jurisdictions, operations, and other related means of adjudication vis a vis tribunals, arbitrations and even the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I carried out a comparative analysis in chapter five between the Nigerian and South African court systems with particular reference to the structures of the courts to indentify the strengths and weaknesses of each structure and the indirect and direct threatened reorganizations i.e the proposed reforms in the two countries and their likely effects and repercussions in the enhancement of justice delivery. Prior to looking at the structures of the courts, I generally looked at the role of the judiciary in both countries and their application of judicial concepts like independence of the judiciary, doctrine of judicial precedents and principles of natural justice. I briefly looked at the history of both legal systems and the evolution of their court structures, the current make up of each legal system, which includes their form of government, democratic set ups and the interrelatedness of each organ of government with the judiciary. The relevance of looking at these legal conceptions is merely to create a background understanding and the appreciation of the makeup and contents of the courts in both countries on which the research is centered. In carrying out a comparative analysis of the courts of these two countries I identified their similarities and differences and concluded by making findings and proposals towards a more effective court system for Nigeria. In my conclusion in chapter six, I made observations, suggestions and proffered solutions for the way forward towards achieving a more viable court structure for Nigeria by adopting some strong points from South African court structure.