These are the procedural
rules that are made specifically for the courts to guide them in the conduct of
civil proceedings. They are also made to regulate practice and procedure in
those courts. Rules of court are usually presented in “Orders” and “Rules”.
“Orders” may loosely be said to refer to actions capable of being taken in a
court; while “Rules” refer to the procedure of taking such actions. All courts
in Nigeria have their own rules. These include:
(i)
Supreme Court Rules 1985 as amended in 1999 made
by the Chief Justice of Nigeria
pursuance to powers conferred on him by section
236 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as
amended) and by section 9 of the Supreme
Court Act Cap S15 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. The practice and
procedure of the Supreme Court shall be in accordance with the Rules and the
Act creating the Court.
(ii)
Court of Appeal Rules 2011 made pursuant to the
powers conferred on the President of the
Court of Appeal by section 248 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and
section 8(2) of the Court of Appeal Act
Cap C36 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and by section 8(1) of the latter, the practice and procedure of the Court
of Appeal shall be in accordance with the rules and the statute creating the
court.
(iii)
Federal High Court (Civil Procedure)
Rules, 2009
(as amended in 2013) made by the Chief
Judge of the Federal High Court pursuant to the powers conferred on him by section 254 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, and by section 9(1) of the Federal High Court Act Cap F12 LFN, 2004. The
practice and procedure of the Federal High Court shall be in accordance with
the rules and orders of the Court and the enabling statute.
(iv)
High Court of the Federal
Capital Territory Abuja (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 made by the Chief Judge of the High Court of the
Federal Capital Territory Abuja pursuant to powers conferred on him by section 259 of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria 1999.
(v)
High Court of Lagos State
(Civil Procedure) Rules 2012; made by the state House of Assembly pursuant to section 32 of the High Court Law of Lagos
State.
(vi)
National Industrial Court
Rules 2007
(as amended in 2012) made by the President
of the National Industrial Court pursuant to powers conferred on him by section 36(1) of the National Industrial
Court Act No. 1 2006 and section
254F(L) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Third Alteration) Act, 2010.
(vii)
Sharia Court of Appeal of
the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (Civil Procedure) Rules, made by the Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of
the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja pursuant to powers conferred on him by
section 264 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
(viii) Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja (Civil Procedure) Rules made by the President
of the Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja,
pursuant to powers conferred on him by section
269 of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria 1999.
(ix)
Magistrate Court (Civil
Procedure) Rules of Lagos, 2009 made by the Chief
Judge of Lagos State pursuant to the powers conferred by the enabling
statute – that is section 75 of the Magistrate Court Law of Lagos State, 2009.
(x)
Customary Court Rules of
Some States made
by the Chief Judge of the State concerned pursuant to an enabling state law.
(xi)
District Court Rules of the
Federal Capital Territory Abuja and States made by the Chief Judge pursuant to an enabling law.
(xii)
Area Court Rules of the Federal
Capital Territory Abuja and States made by the Chief
Judge pursuant to an enabling law.
(xiii)
Native Court Rules of Some
States
made by the Chief Judge pursuant to an enabling law.
(b)
Statutes:
Statutes enacted by the
legislature either wholly or partially regulate the conduct of civil
proceedings. The statute may be one creating the court or other statutes which
may either be specifically or specially enacted on procedure or which partially
provide for procedure. A short adumbration on these special statutes will suffice.
i.
Sheriffs and Civil
Processes Act/Law: For
the Federal Act see Cap S6 Laws of the Federation
of Nigeria 2004. This law deals with the appointment and duties of the
Sheriffs and the service and execution of civil process of courts throughout
Nigeria and the states.
ii.
Judgment (Enforcement)
Rules
made pursuant to the above Act/Laws to deal with enforcement of judgments and
court orders.
iii.
Foreign Judgment
(Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1961 now Cap F35 Laws
of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 applicable to the enforcement of foreign
judgments before the courts in Nigeria.
iv.
Companies and Allied
Matters Act Cap. C20
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Under this Act, there are certain Rules of procedure enacted for certain
specialized matters which are applicable only in the Federation High Court.
These are the Companies Winding Up Rules
2001 that set out practice and procedure for winding up of companies and
the Companies Proceedings Rules 1992.
v.
Companies Income Tax Act,
Cap C. 21 Laws
of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. Under this Act, the Federation High Court (Tax Appeals) Rules 1992 was enacted for the
purposes of providing for the procedure in respect of appeals made from Appeal
Commissioners to the Federal High Court.
vi.
The
Admiralty Jurisdiction Act 1991 Cap A5
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The Chief Judge of the Federation High Court made the Admiralty jurisdiction Procedure Rules 1993 pursuant to section 21 of the Admiralty Jurisdiction
Act 1991 and the rules apply to every admiralty cause or matter brought
before the Federal High Court.
vii.
Matrimonial Causes Act,
Cap M7 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004
and the Matrimonial Causes Rules 1983 regulate practice and procedure
for matrimonial causes and this is applicable only in the State High Court
viii.
Electoral Act 2010 (as amended in 2011).
This statute provides for practice and procedure of Election Petition
Tribunals. By section 54 thereof,
the practice and procedure of an Electoral Tribunal in relation to an election
petition shall be as nearly as possible, similar to the practice and procedure
of the Federal High Court in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction and the
Civil Procedure Rules shall apply with such modifications as may be necessary
to render them applicable having regard to the provisions of the Electoral Act,
as if the Petitioner and the respondent were respectively the plaintiff and the
defendant in an ordinary civil action.
ix.
Legal Practitioners Act,
Cap L 11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. By this statute, appeals
from the Legal Practitioners
Disciplinary Committee go directly to the Supreme Court.
x.
Rules of Professional
Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007. This law makes provision for the acceptable
professional conduct of legal practitioners during civil litigation.
(c)
The Constitution:
The constitution is a
source of civil procedure not only because it is an enabling law for the making
of the rules of court and other rules of practice and procedure, such as the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure)
Rules, 2009 made by the Chief Justice of Nigeria pursuant to
the powers conferred on him by section
46(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as
amended); but also, because it contains provisions on matters of practice and
procedure, for example, the provisions relating to fair hearing (section 36 thereof), right and
procedure for appeals (sections 233, 240
– 246 thereof) and the jurisdiction of the various courts established under
the constitution (sections 232, 233,
239, 240 etc).
It is instructive to note
the provisions of section 6 and 8 of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria Second
Alteration Act 2010 which altered the provisions of sections 233 and 246 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria 1999 and sections 24 and
26 of the First Alteration Act, respectively.
(d)
Decision of Superior Courts
on Civil Procedure:
Subject to the rules of
judicial precedent (stare decisis)
decisions of superior courts of law also constitute a source of civil
procedure. These decisions may arise from interpreting the rules of court and
other laws on procedure or may result from the formulation a new rules of
practice and procedure whenever there is a lacuna in the existing rules.
Examples of rules of practice and procedure that are formulated by the courts
include the following:
(i)
The
rule relating to the conditions for granting injunctions – Kotoye v. CBN (1989).
(ii)
The
rule that requires addressing the court before ordering a non-suit- Craig v. Craig.
(iii)
The
rule that where two motions are pending before a court, the one that will save
the action (constructive motion)
should be heard before the one that will destroy it (destructive motion), irrespective of which was filed first – Nals Team Associated Ltd v. NNPC (1991)
8 NWLR (Pt. 212) 682 & AG.
Federation v. AIC Ltd (1995) 2 SCNJ 113
(e)
Practice Directions: