The judiciary and political change in Africa: Developing transitional jurisprudence in Nigeria

At a time of increased evaluations of law, human rights, and the rise of judicial power all over the globe, the work of most African judiciaries and the principles of the jurisprudence they espouse in promoting social justice remain an unlikely focus of comparative legal scholarship. This ought not...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of constitutional law Vol. 7; no. 4; pp. 654 - 682
Main Author Yusuf, Hakeem O.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford University Press 01.10.2009
Subjects
Africa
Constitutional law
Constitutions
Courts
Democracy
Democratization
Government and politics
Human Rights
Judicial behaviour
Judicial power
Judiciary
Jurisprudence
Legal norms
Nigeria
Political change
Political power
Social justice
Supreme Court
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Summary:At a time of increased evaluations of law, human rights, and the rise of judicial power all over the globe, the work of most African judiciaries and the principles of the jurisprudence they espouse in promoting social justice remain an unlikely focus of comparative legal scholarship. This ought not to be so in view of the considerable activities of the courts on the continent in the dawn of the third wave of democratization. This article explores the work of the Nigerian Supreme Court in the political transition to democracy since 1999. Utilizing insights from the work of Ruti Teitel, it attempts to outline some of the major constitutional and extraconstitutional principles adopted by the Court in mediating intergovernmental contestations in the turbulent transition away from almost three decades of authoritarian military rule. It emerges that the task of fostering social transformation through the "weakest" branch seriously tasks the institutional integrity of the judiciary.
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ISSN:1474-2640
1474-2659
DOI:10.1093/icon/mop027