THE NIGERIA CRIMINAL LAW A SOCIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE FORM, CONTENT AND OPERATION
THE NIGERIA CRIMINAL LAW A SOCIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE FORM, CONTENT AND OPERATION
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Date
1984-12
Authors
PAUL, OMOJO OMAJI
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Abstract
This study examines the form, content, and
operation of the Nigeria criminal law, using the
Marxist perspective which, more than others,
emphasises developmental relationship between law
and society and pesits "historical concreteness" and
sociological analysis as proper methods of investigation
into law. The premise is that law is a social
phenomenon, bound up with the corresponding
philosophical and sociological traditions, whose
effective urn anding (with regards to the nature
and administration of law) requires reaching beyond
the veneer of legal "verities" to the ideologies that
dictate or determine its substantive rules.
With particular reference to structural
organisation and language, the form of the law is
found to be "chaotic" (with irrelevant distinctions)
and largely incomprehensible - all bearing the marks
of the law's English parentage. For the content, it
is found, using "exhaustiveness of offence-formulation0
(i.e. the quantity of law) as the parameter of
"seriousness" that the law places more "premium" on
property-offence category than other categories.
Further analysis establishes a strong link between
this dominant characteristics and the bourgeois
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s oc i o- economic relations which the law's model w a s
designed to regulate in the 19th Century England.
Additionally, the real face of this law is ascertained
by assessing the public impression about the
activities of the Nigeria Police force (N.P.F.), Area
and MAGISTrate Courts, etc., and it is found, among
other things, that the public confidence in, and
respect for, these operational units are, generally
speaking, very 1ow; and that the bias of the law,
discernible from the "diagnosis" ana treatment of
the Nigerian criminal justice system, is heavily
tilted against the underprivileged.
The findings and discussions put together
effectively locate the form, content and operation of
the law in the context of its English legal parentage
and the circumstances of colonialism through which
the law was "imported" to Nigeria and maintained to
this day. Following from this, the study articulates
the implications of this law (particularly its
bourgeois-oriented content) for the Nigerian society
and recommends the development of a new criminal law
(as a long-term measure) with primary attention on the
simplification and publicity of the law thro. well
designed legal education programme. And based upon
all this, it is posited that Sociology of Law in Nigeria
must be designed and operationalised within the tradition
of the "critical sociology" to be relevant and useful
Description
A thesis submitted to the Postgraduate School,
Ahrnadu Bello University, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Sociology with specialisation in
Sociology of Law.
Department of Sociology,
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria, Nigeria.
December, 1984
Keywords
NIGERIA CRIMINAL LAW,, SOCIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION,, CONTENT,, OPERATION.