An Examination of the Role of the Judiciary in Law Making in Nigeria
Thesis
The general purpose of this research work was to analyze the Role of the Judiciary in Law Making in Nigeria. The basic objectives of this research were to understand or explore the Role of the Judiciary in Law Making; to understand the impacts and challenges of judicial decisions to law making, and to understand the statutory interpretation aids and approaches of courts to law making. The statement of the problem was how can judicial participation in law making through interpretation and application of other laws contribute to the realization of the goal of good governance. The outcome of this research was important to the Nigerian society as it would improve the understanding of the Role of the Judiciary in Law Making in Nigeria, the various approaches to statutory interpretation and their significances to policy making. The researcher used the doctrinal research methodology with the aid of statutes, case laws, textbooks, articles and journals, internet materials and opinion of scholars. The rationale for using this methodology was because it focuses on a thorough enquiry of legal concepts, values, principles and existing legal texts such as statutes, case laws and other legal sources. It is also concerned with an analysis of legal doctrines and how they have been developed and applied. The research contained introduction of the research topic, background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives, significance of the study, research questions, limitations to the research, methodology and organization layout of the research and other chapters, ranging from one to five. At the conclusion of this academic exercise, the researcher found out that the judiciary has contributed immensely to law making through its interpretive role. In spite of the contributions, cautions should be exercised to avoid judicial rascality or hiding under the guise of interpretation to execute ulterior (personal, political or economic) purpose which might be at variance with the intentions of the legislature. The implication of these findings is it would serve as a useful catalyst to law reform. It would also impact on the judicial contributions to law making for good governance in Nigeria. Based on the foregoing findings, the researcher recommended the following: that drafters pay close attention or take cognizance of the interpretive approaches courts adopt in statutory interpretation so as to draft laws that will reduce the legislative – judicial frictions; that an understanding of the attitudes and thought processes of courts will help to synergize the relationship of the legislature and judiciary as partners in the collective pursuit of good governance; that legislations should be drafted in simple, plain, unambiguous and direct language in other to reduce the difficulties that are inherent in statutory interpretation; that legislations should indicate their primary purposes and communicate them in simple and direct words, and that interpretation or definition provisions be drafted in clear terms so as to make explicit the nature or scope of the key words or phrases that were used in them.