An Appraisal of the Impact of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission in the Legislative Process
Thesis
The topic of this dissertation was chosen because of the lack of understanding of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC or the Commission) organizational structure, the Commissions relationship with the National Assembly; the functions of the Commission within the Executive arm superstructure; the relegation and poor implementation of the Reports of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC or the Commission) despite its impact in legislative process in Nigeria. Impact of the NLRC in the legislative process in Nigeria cannot be ignored considering the fact that the NLRC is an essential part of the improvement of the laws in Nigeria. For this reason this research was carried out to appraise impact of the Nigeria Law Reform Commission in the legislative process in Nigeria. The methodology employed in this research was the doctrinal approach in order to achieve each research objectives. In applying this methodology, analyses were made on statutory provisions as well as case law, and reliance was placed on both primary and secondary data. Text books and articles in journals, together with government reports helped to consider the primary sources used in this research. Apart from the text books, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Act 1979, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Act 2022, articles in journals which were found in libraries, other primary and secondary materials were collected from the internet. The researcher achieved this using relevant literature search methods and the Commissions Journals and Reform Report, internet materials such as journals and articles to supplement the available materials. This area of research work required comparative analyses that may lead to the review of the Nigeria Law Reform Commission (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Act 2022. The findings of this work has brought expositions to the Commissions organizational structure and its operational procedure, the interrelationship between the work of the Commission and the National Assembly, the functions of the Commission and ways it impacted in the overall growth of the Nigerian law and modernization process. This work also exposed the relegation of the Commission and poor implementation of the Commission’s Report as well as the imperative for retaining the Commission. Further, despite the laudable provisions of the Law Reform Commission (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Act 2022, the Commission is largely dependent on the Attorney-General of the Federation. Again, there is no time limit provided in the instant Act within which the Attorney-General of the Federation will submit the Report of the Commission to the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly. Therefore, with the above findings made in this research, the researcher observed that the Commission has greatly impacted in the legislative process in Nigeria and it is recommended that there is the need to review the Law Reform Commission (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Act 2022 to enhance the independence of the Commission towards full actualization of its mandate, reduce the relegation of the Commission and enhance the implementation of the Report of the Commission.