Anglia Ruskin Research Online (ARRO)
Browse

Can indigenous jurisprudence be the key to unlocking (solving) the problems in the state-controlled Nigerian criminal justice system?

Download (5.71 MB)
thesis
posted on 2023-08-30, 20:33 authored by Azeru R. Ogunkah
This thesis examines the utility and relevance of an autochthonous legal system in the legal scheme of things, whether such system can enhance justice delivery in contemporary times. Its particular focus was the indigenous criminal justice system within the Nigerian context. Plagued by an array of challenges, studies have shown that the Nigerian state-controlled criminal justice system has not been operating to optimal efficiency. This study thus has explored the indigenous criminal justice system operating in the Nigerian context to see if there are certain benefits available to an indigenous legal system over a transplanted one and to see if these attendant benefits can help address some of the problems in the state-controlled criminal justice and by so doing, enhance justice delivery. It commences with a methodical archival analysis (literature review) of existing studies to check for and examine the contributions made so far within this area of scholarship and their impact. The approach of the indigenous criminal justice system as a tool to address the challenges in the Nigerian state controlled criminal justice system has been suggested by previous studies, however, the approaches proposed by these studies are more sympathetic to the legal centralist ideology than a deep legal pluralist ideology proposed by this research. Thus, the analysis revealed a paucity of research regarding the utility of the Indigenous criminal justice system as an autonomous remediable alternative in addressing the challenges in the state-controlled criminal justice system. In the bid to address the gaps in the reviewed literature, this study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches to research to investigate the potential impact of recognizing the indigenous criminal justice system as an autonomous alternative in addressing the problems in the state-controlled criminal justice system. A comparative analysis of the history of the English criminal justice system and the Nigerian criminal justice system revealed that there seems to be some attendant benefits to a justice system that has evolved organically compared to a transplanted one which includes a mostly seamless evolution and development of the law. this finding was reinforced by the empirical studies which revealed that there are extensive benefits an indigenous justice system has over a transplanted one. The field study was in three phases. The first phase field study employed a semi-structured questionnaire to explore the views of stakeholders in both the state-controlled criminal justice system and the indigenous criminal justice system to check for identified variables in the literature review and developments in practice. The second phase field study employed a one-on-one interview method to explore the views of these stakeholders as to why the status-quo identified in the first phase field study exists. And the third phase field study operated both as a Delphi technique for the first phase field study and also to check and minimize interviewer bias in the second phase field study. Results of the field studies helped to modify the capabilities of the proposed legal framework. The thesis found a strong correlation between autochthony and legitimacy cum efficiency i.e. an indigenous law tends to operate mostly efficiently compared to a transplanted one and the people tend to voluntarily obey the law where it aligns with their socio-cultural values if given an independent recognition.

History

Institution

Anglia Ruskin University

File version

  • Accepted version

Language

  • eng

Thesis name

  • PhD

Thesis type

  • Doctoral

Legacy posted date

2023-04-28

Legacy creation date

2023-04-28

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

Theses from Anglia Ruskin University/Faculty of Business and Law

Note

Accessibility note: If you require a more accessible version of this thesis, please contact us at arro@aru.ac.uk

Usage metrics

    ARU Theses

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC