In every setting, there are instruments creating courts, their hierarchy, jurisdiction, composition, appointment and removal.
Court is an avenue that is used to settle disputes or disagreements in civil cases, used to try suspects in criminal charges and used to encourage peaceful dispute settlement through Mediation, arbitration, conciliation and reconciliation.
In Nigeria, the Constitution created the higher courts of record and also gave room for National and state houses of assembly to create other courts based on the special needs and peculiarities.
We will go through the higher courts of record created by the constitution such as the Supreme court, court of appeal, Federal high court, State high court etc.. And in subsequent explainers, we will examine the higher courts one after the other on the extent of its creation, parties before it, Original and appellate jurisdiction.
1. SUPREME COURT : The supreme court is the apex court in Nigeria and it has original jurisdiction in matters between the arms of government, federal government and states, state government and the national assembly, national assembly and a state house of assembly etc. It also has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals from the court of appeal.
The General composition of the supreme court is ; The CJN and such number of justices not exceeding 21 as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.
It sits 7 justices in matters relating to Interpretation of the Constitution, Constitutional matters and Fundamental Rights matters. It sits 5 Justices for any other case.
2. COURT OF APPEAL: The Court of appeal is the second highest in court hierarchy. It has original jurisdiction to hear disputes emanating from the conduct of Presidential election and has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals coming from Federal high court, state high courts etc.
The composition of the court of appeal consist of the president court of appeal and such number of justices not less than 49 justices as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. And of which not less than 3 shall be learned in Islamic personal law and not less than 3 shall be learned in customary law.
It sits with 5 Justices in its original jurisdiction and in matters relating to interpretation of the constitution and fundamental rights. And it sits to hear appeal with at least 3 Justices. If the appeal is from Shari’a Court of appeal or Customary court of appeal, one among the 3 Justices shall be learned in Islamic personal law and Customary law respectively.
3. FEDERAL HIGH COURT: The federal high court is a court of first instance. It has jurisdiction over matters that are on the exclusive legislative list and others provided by the constitution like Banking, Maritime, aviation Mineral resources etc. And it also has criminal jurisdiction to hear and determine matters relating to Drugs, money laundering, human trafficking etc. It has a coordinate jurisdiction with States high courts and the FCT. The composition of the court is Chief judge and such number of judges as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. Thus, no restriction on the number of judges. It sits with at least one judge in a case.
4. NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT: The National industrial court has a coordinate jurisdiction with the federal high courts and it has original jurisdiction to hear matters relating to trade, labour practices, pensions etc. The general composition of the court consist of The president and such number of judges of the NIC as May be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. It sits when constituted by a single judge or not more than 3 judges as the President of the court may direct.
5. FCT HIGH COURT: The FCT high court has coordinate jurisdiction with High courts of states and it has both civil and criminal jurisdiction to hear cases brought before it except for those cases who have been assigned to other specialized courts by the constitution. It also has an appellate jurisdiction over appeals coming from the FCT lower courts like the Magistrate Courts, Small claims courts. The court’s composition consist of The Chief Judge and such number of judges as may be prescribed by an Act of The National Assembly. It sits with at least one judge.
6. SHARIA COURT OF APPEAL FCT : The Shari’a Court of appeal hears and adjudicate over appeals coming from Shari’a courts or area courts on matters relating to Islamic personal law. It is composed of A Grand Kadi and such number of Kadis of the court as may be Prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. It sits with at least 3 Kadis of the court.
7. CUSTOMARY COURT OF APPEAL FCT: The Customary court of appeal hears and adjudicate over appeals coming from Customary and area courts in the FCT on matters. It is composed of The president of the court and such number of judges of the court as May be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly. It sits with at least 3 judges of the court.
8. STATE HIGH COURT: The State high court has a coordinate jurisdiction with federal high court and National industrial court. It has civil and criminal jurisdiction to hear cases brought before it except for those cases who have been assigned to other specialized courts by the constitution. It also has an appellate jurisdiction over appeals coming from the state lower courts like the Magistrate Courts, Area courts, Small claims courts. The court’s composition consist of The Chief Judge and such number of judges as may be prescribed by the law of the state house of assembly . It sits with at least one judge.
9. SHARIA COURT OF APPEAL OF A STATE: it has an appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals coming from Shari’a courts in the state just same as that of FCT with necessary modification as to their Federal and State status.
10. CUSTOMARY COURT OF APPEAL OF A STATE: It hear appeals coming from Customary courts just as same as that of the FCT with necessary modification as to their Federal and State status.
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What you should know
- The constitution also created the Election Tribunals. They sit and adjudicate over disputes arising from the conduct of national elections.
- States, as empowered by the constitution create Election Tribunals to hear disputes arising from the conduct of local government elections.
- The Constitution also allowed the National assembly and State houses of assembly to create tribunals that are of coordinate jurisdiction with the high courts for specialized purposes.
- The National assembly by law has created Tax appeal tribunal to hear disputes over tax, Investment and Securities tribunal to hear cases relating to capital market misconduct and dealing in illegal securities business, Federal Competition and Consumer protection tribunal to hear disputes over issues of antitrust market monopoly and consumer concerns. These tribunals were established to serve specific purposes and they can be dispense with when they are no longer needed.
- The states by the powers given to them by the constitution created lower courts like Magistrate Courts with limited civil and criminal jurisdiction, Customary courts, Shari’a courts Area courts and small claims courts all of which are to serve specific purposes base on the instrument creating them.
Author: Yahaya Yusuf