Res Gestae and Section 4 of the Evidence Act 2011: What Happened to the Common Law Doctrine?

There is a phrase that appears regularly in old Nigerian evidence law reports: "part of the res gestae." Counsel would use it to get otherwise inadmissible evidence before the court, arguing that certain words spoken during or immediately after an event were so connected to that event that they formed part of it. Judges would accept or reject the argument depending on how spontaneous the statement appeared. That phrase, and the common law doctrine behind it, caused more confusion than almost any other concept in evidence law. It was never clearly defined, its boundaries were contested, and courts applied it inconsistently....

26 May

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Direct Evidence in Nigerian Law: Eyewitness Testimony and Section 126

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

On 14 October 2018, a woman named Chioma was returning from the market in Nnewi when she saw two men drag her neighbour into an alley. She heard a scream and saw one of the men strike the victim with a machete. She ran and told her husband what she saw. Later that day, the victim died. At trial, Chioma took the witness stand and testified to everything she saw and heard. Her husband also testified. He said Chioma came home agitated and told him what happened. Both testimonies are oral evidence. But only one of them is direct evidence. Chioma's...

26 May

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Burden and Standard of Proof in Nigeria: Who Must Prove What, and How Much?

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

Walk into any criminal court in Nigeria on any working day and you will hear the phrase "beyond reasonable doubt" used at least once. Walk into a civil court and you will hear "balance of probabilities." Both phrases answer a single question: how much proof does a party need before a court will rule in their favour? That question, and the related question of who has to do the proving, is what the law on burden and standard of proof is all about. These concepts are not just examination topics. In the real world, getting them wrong costs people their cases...

26 May

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Relevancy, Admissibility and Weight of Evidence Under the Evidence Act 2011

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

There is a scene that plays out in Nigerian courts more often than most students realise. A counsel tenders a document. The opposing counsel objects. The judge says: "Counsel, is your objection to relevance or to admissibility?" The counsel who cannot tell the difference has already lost the argument, because these are not the same question, they carry different consequences, and the court will treat them entirely differently. These three concepts, relevancy, admissibility, and weight, are the structural backbone of the Nigerian law of evidence. Every other rule in the Evidence Act 2011 is, in some sense, an elaboration of how...

26 May

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Facts in Issue and Relevant Facts: The Gateway to Evidence in Nigerian Courts

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

Picture a land dispute in the Ibadan High Court. The plaintiff says the defendant trespassed on his farmland. The defendant says the land belongs to him and he was simply exercising his right. The plaintiff's counsel calls a witness who wants to testify that the defendant has a bad temper and once quarrelled with a neighbour. The defence objects. The judge sustains the objection. Why? Because the defendant's temper is not a fact in issue and is not relevant to any fact in issue in that case. It does not make the question of who owns the land any more or...

26 May

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Sources of Nigerian Law of Evidence: From the 1943 Ordinance to the Evidence Act 2011

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

In 1952, a man stood trial in a Nigerian High Court and his counsel tried to argue that certain evidence should be admitted based on an English common law rule that existed before the Evidence Ordinance came into force. The court had to decide: does that old English rule still operate in Nigeria, or has it been replaced by the statute? The answer depended entirely on understanding where Nigerian evidence law comes from and how the different sources rank against each other. That question has not gone away. In fact, it became more complicated when the Evidence Act 2011 replaced the...

26 May

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Court Clears Jonathan to Contest 2027 Presidential Election

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Legal News

A Federal High Court in Abuja has cleared former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 presidential election, dismissing a suit that sought to disqualify him. In a judgment delivered on Tuesday, Justice Peter Lifu ruled that the case was an abuse of the court process, effectively removing a legal hurdle that has shadowed speculation about Jonathan’s political future. The suit was brought by a lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, who was subsequently fined N20 million by the court for filing the frivolous case, as reported by punchng.com. Former President Goodluck Jonathan's eligibility for the 2027 election has been affirmed by a Federal...

26 May

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What is the Law of Evidence in Nigeria? Meaning, Scope and Classification

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

Imagine you are sitting in the gallery of the Oyo State High Court watching a murder trial. The prosecution counsel stands up and says the accused was seen leaving the scene of the crime. The defence counsel jumps up and objects. The judge asks: what is the basis for that objection? What follows is not an argument about whether the accused actually killed anyone. It is an argument about whether the way that fact is being proved is legally acceptable. That argument, the debate about how facts are established in court, is exactly what the law of evidence is about. Every...

26 May

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