LAWYERS, LAW REPORTING AND THE SHARIA COURTS OF APPEAL IN NIGERIA

Authors

Keywords:

Islamic law reporting , judicial precedent (stare decisis), dīwān al-qādī (sijill), kadi, Nigerian Sharia court of appeal

Abstract

The Sharia Court of Appeal (first created in 1960) is a superior court of record that hears appeals from the area courts and Sharia courts in Islamic personal law cases only. Appeals from the Sharia Courts of Appeal go to the Court of Appeal and finally, to the Supreme Court. Lawyers gained the right of audience in the Sharia Courts of Appeal and qualified for appointment as Kadis of the court in 1985 and 1999 respectively. Reports of the Sharia Courts of Appeal judgments are hard to come by. An exception is the Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal that has published its Annual Reports for the years 1993 to 2015. The Annual Report was renamed Law Reports and the Law Reports for 2016 and 2020 have been published. This paper gives a conceptual and historical background to Islamic law reporting, analyses the 2000 Annual Report and 2020 Law Report (the maiden editions respectively) and examines the prospects of reporting cases of the court. The study finds some differences in the formats of the annual reports and the law reports; inconsistencies in the court’s referencing style and the transliteration schemes, and that the reports are useful to lawyers and academics alike. The paper recommends that the judgments in the court should not be unduly long; that the referencing style and transliteration scheme for Arabic sources should be standardized; and that while the reports be encouraged and sustained, the concept of stare decisis should not become entrenched in Islamic courts.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

‘Abd al-Karīm Zaydān, Niẓām al-Qaḍā’ fī al-Sharī‘ah al-Islāmiyyah (Bayrūt: Muassasah al-Risalah, 2002).

‘Abd Allāh al-Tayyār, Al-Fiqh al-Maysar (Riyad: Madār al-Waṭan, 2012).

Abdullahi B. Foduye, Guide to Administrators Diya’ al-Hukkam, ed. and trans. Shehu Yamasa (Sokoto: The Islamic Academy, 2000).

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘Do Lawyers have a Right of Audience in the Sharia Court of Appeal? Karimatu Yakubu and Anor v. Alhaji Yakubu Paiko and Anor Revisited,’ LASU Law Journal, vol 4/2 (2002): 183-197.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘Re-Conceptualizing Islamic Legal Education in Nigeria: The Case for Professionalization,’ Al-Maslaha, vol. 2 (1999-2003): 85-109.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘The Sharia Court of Appeal: Accounting to the Public in Kwara State,’ The Jurist - An Annual Publication of the Law Students' Society, University of Ilorin, vol. 10 (2005): 161-168.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba & Ismael Saka Ismael, ‘Challenges in the Judicial Administration of Muslim Estates in the Sharia Courts of Appeal in Nigeria,’ Electronic Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (EJIMEL), vol. 5 (2017): 81-94.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘‘Neither Fish nor Fowl’: Area Courts in the Ilorin Emirate in Northern Nigeria,’ Journal Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, vol. 58 (2009): 69-92.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘Harmonization of Shari'ah, Common Law and Customary Law in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects,’ Journal of Malaysian and Comparative Law, vol. 35 (2008): 119-145.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘Lawyers, Legal Education and Shari’ah Courts in Nigeria,’ Journal Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, vol. 49 (2004): 113-161.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘Religious and Customary Laws in Nigeria,’ Emory International Law Review, vol. 25/2 (2011): 881-895.

Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘Sharia Court of Appeal in Northern Nigeria: The Continuing Crises of Jurisdiction,’ American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 52/4 (2004): 859-900.

Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Faraj al-Mālikī al-Qurṭubī, Aqḍiyah Rasūl Allah Ṣallā Allāh ‘Alayh wa Sallam, 2 vols. (Qāhirah: Dār al-Haytham, 2006).

Abu Bakr Aḥmad Ibn ‘Umar al-Khaṣṣāf, Kitab Adab al-Qādī, with a commentary by Aḥmad Ibn ‘Alī al-Jaṣṣaṣ, ed. Farhat J Ziadeh (Qāhirah: Qism al-Nashr bi al-Jāmi‘ah al-Amrīkiyah, 1979).

A. G. Karibi-Whyte, History and Sources of Nigerian Criminal Law (Ibadan: Spectrum Law Publishing, 1993).

A.O. Hashimi, ‘Ajami Tradition in Non-Islamic Society: The Roles of Ajami-Arabic Scripts in Keeping Records and Documentation,’ KIU Journal of Humanities, vol. 5/2 (2020): 373-379.

Aḥmad ibn Ghunaym Sālim al-Nafarāwī, Al-Fawākih al-Dawāni alā Risālah Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī¸ vol. 2 (Bayrūt: Dar al-Fikr, 1995).

Ahmed Beita Yusuf, Nigerian Legal System – Pluralism and Conflict of Laws in the Northern States (New Delhi: National Publishing House, 1982).

Ahmed S. Garba & Philip Ostien, ‘Sixty Authoritative Islamic Texts in Use in Northern Nigeria,’ in Sharia Implementation in Northern Nigeria, 1999-2006: A Sourcebook, vol. 5, ed. Philip Ostien (Ibadan; Spectrum Books Ltd., 2007), Ch. 6, 108 and 108-110, https://ssrn.com/abstract=1496531, accessed on 30 March 2022.

Akintunde Olusegun Obilade, Nigerian Legal System (London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1998).

Allen Christelow, ‘Islamic Judicial Councils and their Socio-political Contexts: A Trans-Saharan Comparison, in Dispensing Justice in Islam: Qadis and their Judgments,’ eds. Muhammed Khalid Masud, Rudolph Peters & David S. Powers (Leiden and London, Brill, 2006).

Allen Christelow, Thus Ruled Emir Abbas: Selected Cases from the Records of the Emir of Kano's Judicial Council (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1994).

Anthony Nnaemezie Aniagolu, The Making of the 1989 Constitution of Nigeria (Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd, 1993).

Auwalu Hamisu Yadudu, ‘The Prospects for Sharia in Nigeria,’ in Islam in Africa: Proceedings of the Islam in Africa Conference, eds. Nura Alkali et al., (Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 1993).

Auwalu H. Yadudu, ‘Colonialism and the Transformation of Islamic Law in the Northern States,’ Journal of Legal Pluralism, vol. 32 (1992): 103-139.

Auwalu Hamisu Yadudu, ‘We Need a New Legal System,’ in On the Political Future of Nigeria, eds. Ibrahim Sulaiman & Siraj Abdulkarim (Zaria: Hudahuda, 1988).

Benue State Judiciary, ‘About Us,’ The Judiciary Benue State, https://benuejudiciary.org.ng/, accessed on 3 February 2024.

C. N. Ubah, Government and Administration of Kano Emirate 1900-1930 (Nsukka: University of Nigeria Press, 1985).

C. Ogwezzy Michael, ‘Communication of an Interpreter and Fair Trial under Nigerian Criminal Justice System’, International Journal of Legal Discourse, vol. 1/1 (2016): 213-233.

David S. Powers, ‘On Judicial Review in Islamic Law,’ Law & Society Review, vol. 26/2 (1992): 315-342.

Delfina Serrano, ‘Legal Practice in an Andalusī-Maghribī Source from the Twelfth Century CE: The Madhāhib al-Ḥukkām fī Nawāzil al-Aḥkām,’ Islamic Law and Society, vol. 7/2 (2000): 187-234.

Emilie Tyan, ‘Judicial organization,’ in Law in the Middle East, eds. Majid Khadduri & Herbert J. Liebesny (Washington, D. C.: Middle East Institute, 1955), 236-278.

Elliot Alexander Keay & Sam Scruton Richardson, The Native and Customary Courts of Nigeria (London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1966).

Gary Slapper & David Kelly, The English Legal System, 18th ed. (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2017).

Glanville L. Williams, Learning the Law, 14th, ed. A. T. H. Smith (London: Sweet and Maxwell, 2010).

Al-Ḥaṭṭāb, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥman, Kitāb Mawāhib al-Jalīl fi Sharḥ Mukhtasar Khalīl, 6 vols. (Bayrūt: Dār al-Fikr, 1978).

I. A. Haroon, ‘Preface,’ (2011) SCAIAR vii.

Ibn ‘Āṣim, Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad al-Andalusī al-Gharnāṭī, Tuḥfat al-Ḥukkām fī Nukat al-‘Uqūd wa al-Aḥkām. (Qahirah: Dar al-Afaq al-‘Arabiyyah, 2011).

Ibn ‘Askar, Shihāb al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Raḥman ibn Muḥammad, Irshād al-Sālik ilā Ashraf al-Masālik fī Fiqh al-Imām Mālik (Bayrūt: Dar al-Fikr, n.d.).

Ibn Farḥūn, Ibrāhīm Shams al-Din, Tabṣirah al-Ḥukkām fī Usūl al-Aqḍiyah wa Manāhij al-Aḥkām, vol. 1 & 2 (Bayrut: Dār al-Kutub ‘Ilmiyyah, 2001).

Ibrahim Abikan Abdulqadir & Hussein Ahmad Folorunsho, ‘The Status of Shari’ah in the Nigerian Legal Education System: An Appraisal of the Role of Mada’ris’, IIUM Law Journal, vol. 24/2 (2016): 453-477.

Imam Khassaf, Adab al-Qadi (Islamic Legal and Judicial System), ed. Al-Sadr al-Shahid, trans. Munir Ahmad Mughal (New Delhi: Adam Publishers and Distributors, 2005).

Ismael Saka Ismael & Abdulmumini Adebayo Oba, ‘Judicial Practice in Distribution of Inheritance (mīrāth) in Islamic Courts in Nigeria,’ De Jure: Jurnal Hukum dan Syari’ah, vol. 11/1 (2019): 1-11.

John Ohireime Asein, Introduction to Nigerian Legal System, 2nd ed. (Lagos: Ababa Press, 2005).

M. A. Ambali, The Practice of Muslim Family Law in Nigeria, 3rd ed. (Lagos: Princeton and Associates Publishing, 2014).

Ministry of Awqāf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait, Al-Mawsū‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah (Kuwait: Wazārat al-Awqāf wa al-Shuʼūn al-Islāmiyyah, 1983).

Muḥammad Amīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtār Sharḥ Tanwīr al-Abṣar, vol. 5 (Bayrūt: Dar al-Fikr, 1966).

Muhammed Khalid, Rudolph Peters & David S. Powers, ‘Qadis and their Courts: An Historical Survey,’ Dispensing Justice in Islam: Qadis and their Judgments, eds. Muhammed Khalid, Rudolph Peters & David S. Powers (Leiden and London, Brill, 2006).

Muhammed Tabi'u, ‘The Right of Audience of Legal Practitioners in Shari’ah Courts in Nigeria,’ Journal of Islamic and Comparative Law, vol. 15-17, (1985-1987):1-26.

Murray Last, ‘The Book in the Sokoto Caliphate,’ in The Meanings of Timbuktu, ed. Souleymane Bachir Diagne (Dakar: CODESRIA/HSRC, 2008).

Musa Ali Ajetunmobi, ‘Shari’ah Law Reporting in Nigeria’, Hamdard Islamicus, vol. 11/2 (1988): 77-85.

Musa Ali Ajetunmobi, Shari’ah Legal Practice in Nigeria, 1956-1983 (Malete: Kwara State University Press, 2017).

Nikolai Dobronravine Vine & John E. Philips, ‘Hausa Ajami Literature and Script: Colonial Innovations and Post-Colonial Myths in Northern Nigeria,’ Sudanic Africa, vol. 15 (2004): 85-110.

Onyekachi Umah, ‘Can Nigerian Courts use Documents not Written in English Language,’ SABILAW.ORG, Daily Law Tips (Tip 511), https://sabilaw.org/can-nigerian-courts-use-documents-not-written-in-english-language-daily-law-tips-tip-511-by-onyekachi-umah-esq-llm-aciarbuk/, accessed on 31 July 2022

Philip Ostien, ‘Brief Biographies of the Judges who ruled on the Cases,’ in Sharia Implementation in Northern Nigeria, 1999-2006: A Sourcebook, vol. 5 (7), ed. Philip Ostien (Ibadan; Spectrum Books Ltd., 2007).

Philip Ostien, Sama’ila A. Mohammed & Ahmed S. Garba, ‘Introduction to Chapter 6,’ in Sharia Implementation in Northern Nigeria, 1999-2006: A Sourcebook, vol. 5, ed. Philip Ostien (Ibadan; Spectrum Books Ltd., 2007), Chapter 6/3, 7.

Sālih al-Fawzān, al-Mulakhas al-Fiqhī (Qāhirah: Dar al-Ghad al-Jadīd, 2007).

Tajudeen Adebanjo, ‘Kwara Sharia Court Launches Law Report,’ The Nation Online, 7 January 2022, https://thenationonlineng.net/kwara-sharia-courtlaunches-law-report/, accessed on 25 May 2022.

Wael Hallaq, ‘The Qadi’s Diwan (Sijill) before the Ottomans,’ Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 61/3 (1998): 415-436.

Wahbah al-Zuḥaylī, al-Fiqh al-Islamī wa Adillatuhu, vol. 8 (Bayrūt: Dar al-Fikr, 2001).

Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), Safiyyatu’s Case (n.p: Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), 2003).

Law Reports

Case Notes of Northern Nigeria (NNCN)

Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal Law Report (KSCALR)

Law Pavilion Electronic Law Report (LPELR)

Law Report of Northern Nigeria (NNLR)

Nigeria Law Report (NLR)

Nigerian Weekly Law Report (NWLR)

Reserved Judgments of the Court of Appeal (CA)

Sarauniya Law Report (SLR)

Shari’ah Law Report

Sharia Court of Appeal, Ilorin Annual Report (SCAIAR)

Sharia Law Report of Nigeria (Sh.L.R.N.)

Sharia Law Report, vol. 1 (1961-1989) ed. Yahaya Mahmood (Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd, 1993)

Sharia Quarterly Law Report (SQLR)

Statutes

Area Courts Law, Cap. 13, Laws of Kwara State, 1994

Area Courts Law, Cap. A9, Laws of Kwara State, 2007.

Constitution of Northern Nigeria, Cap. 1, Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963.

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979.

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

High Court Law, Cap. H2, Laws of Kwara State, 2007.

Sharia Court of Appeal Law, Cap. 122, Laws of Northern Nigeria, 1963.

Sharia Court of Appeal Law, Cap. S4, Laws of Kwara State, 2007.

Sharia Courts Law, 2000 (Kano State).

Sharia Courts Law, 2000 (Sokoto State).

Sharia Courts Law, 2001 (Kaduna State).

Subsidiary Legislations

Area Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, Cap. A9, Laws of Kwara State, 2007.

Court of Appeal Rules, 2021.

Sharia Court of Appeal Rules, Cap. S4, Laws of Kwara State.

Cases

Adebiyi v. Adebiyi (2020) KSCALR 85.

Aderibigbe v. Aderibigbe (2000) SCAIAR 18.

Aderibigbe v. Aderibigbe (2000) SCAIAR 38.

Albasa v. Sani (1982) CA (Pt. 1) 27.

Amina Lawal v Tbe State (2003) NNLR 488-517

Bako v. Abubakar (2014) LPELR-23975(CA).

Etsunu v. Mohammed (2020) KSCALR 203.

Haruna v. Mankolo (2000) SCAIAR 21.

Ishaku v. Hadeija N. A., 25, NNCN, 1962

Karimatu Yakubu v Paiko (1961-1989) 1 Sh. L. R. N. 126.

Kuburat v. Adeoti (2020) KSCALR 214.

Madagali v. Risku, 27, NNCN, 1963

Makudawa v. Mallam (2015) LPELR-25964(CA).

Ojengbede v. Esan (2002) All FWLR (Pt.90) 1406 (SC).

Olore v. Zainab (2020) KSCALR 269.

Otte v. Ajadi (1998) SCAIAR 112.

Ridwan v. Maryam (2020) KSCALR 18.

Safiyatu Hussaini v Attorney General, Sokoto State (2003) NNLR 439.

Wada v. Kano N. A. 15, NNCN, 196

Published

2024-05-20

How to Cite

Oba, A. A. (2024). LAWYERS, LAW REPORTING AND THE SHARIA COURTS OF APPEAL IN NIGERIA. Jurnal Syariah, 31(1), 122–159. Retrieved from https://ejournal.um.edu.my/index.php/JS/article/view/38706