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International Treaties in Nigerian and Canadian Courts

International Treaties in Nigerian and Canadian Courts CHILENYE NWAPI ∗ I. INTRODUCTION In the not-so-distant past, if you took a seat in any circle of Nigerian or Canadian lawyers and asked them the status of international treaties in their courts, you would hear the following cliché chorused by virtually all of them: ‘Treaties are not part of our law until domesticated through a legislative act. Our courts can therefore not give effect to them, as they do not apply international law.’ This answer would probably have been swallowed hook, line and sinker. But to the modern lawyer, whether treaty provisions – those that confer rights and obligations on persons rather than those that create rights and obligations among states – need to be enforced domestically, and if so, whether in fact they are, is a matter of great interest. This interest, it must be noted, is not the mere product of an intellectual quest on the part of the modern lawyer to bring the international legal order home. Rather, it is the product of a remarkable change that coursed through treaty practice especially in the final lap of the twentieth century and which seems not to be flagging. Earlier, treaties operated ‘purely on the international http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png African Journal of International and Comparative Law Edinburgh University Press

International Treaties in Nigerian and Canadian Courts

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Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
©© Edinburgh University Press 2011
Subject
Articles; African Studies
ISSN
0954-8890
eISSN
1755-1609
DOI
10.3366/ajicl.2011.0003
Publisher site
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Abstract

CHILENYE NWAPI ∗ I. INTRODUCTION In the not-so-distant past, if you took a seat in any circle of Nigerian or Canadian lawyers and asked them the status of international treaties in their courts, you would hear the following cliché chorused by virtually all of them: ‘Treaties are not part of our law until domesticated through a legislative act. Our courts can therefore not give effect to them, as they do not apply international law.’ This answer would probably have been swallowed hook, line and sinker. But to the modern lawyer, whether treaty provisions – those that confer rights and obligations on persons rather than those that create rights and obligations among states – need to be enforced domestically, and if so, whether in fact they are, is a matter of great interest. This interest, it must be noted, is not the mere product of an intellectual quest on the part of the modern lawyer to bring the international legal order home. Rather, it is the product of a remarkable change that coursed through treaty practice especially in the final lap of the twentieth century and which seems not to be flagging. Earlier, treaties operated ‘purely on the international

Journal

African Journal of International and Comparative Law – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Mar 1, 2011

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