SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The subject of conflict of laws takes on a complexity in Nigeria not only on account of the federal form of government with its separate federal and state laws but more so because of the dual or tripartite system of court and multiplicity of laws which exist within each state frontier. As a result of the recent large increase in the number of the constituent states coupled with the increasing fluidity and frequency in the movements of individuals and groups across unguarded state boundaries, the study of conflict of laws is bound to assume greater prominence in the future than has ever been accorded it in the past. This thesis deals essentially with the problems of choice of law and choice of jurisdiction at the internal, inter-state and international planes. It is, as such, the first of its kind in that context. The work is divided into five parts consisting of eleven chapters. Part I briefly traces the historical development of the tripartite system of court and the pluralism of laws. A brief discussion of the nature and sources of Nigerian rules of conflict of law is also contained in this part. Part II is devoted to problems of choice of law at the inter-local level. Part III is basically concerned with the problems of choice of law at the inter-state and international planes. Part IV examines the conditions governing the application of foreign law under the received (English) law. Part V deals with the problems of judicial jurisdiction of inter-local inter-state and international dimensions.