# Nigeria's Court Hierarchy

> Nigeria's courts form a single hierarchy topped by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, which sit above several parallel tracks: the Federal High Court and National Industrial Court for federal and labour matters, state High Courts for general jurisdiction, and, in states that establish them, a Sharia Court of Appeal and a Customary Court of Appeal whose constitutional jurisdiction is limited to civil questions of Islamic personal law and customary law respectively.

**Category:** Law & Justice · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/nigeria-court-hierarchy

## Key facts
- **Apex court:** Supreme Court of Nigeria — Chief Justice of Nigeria plus up to 21 Justices (Section 230)
- **Second tier:** Court of Appeal — President plus not less than 49 Justices, including at least 3 learned in Islamic personal law and 3 in customary law (Section 237)
- **Supreme Court quorum:** 5 Justices (7 for constitutional questions or original jurisdiction cases)
- **Federal specialist courts:** Federal High Court (Section 249); National Industrial Court (Sections 254A–254F, added 2010)
- **State-level general court:** A High Court for every state (Section 270)
- **Optional state appellate courts:** Sharia Court of Appeal and Customary Court of Appeal, created where a state "requires" them
- **Sharia/Customary CA jurisdiction:** Constitutionally limited to civil questions of Islamic personal law and customary law respectively
- **Governing text:** Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, Chapter VII

## Sources
- Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Updated with the 1st–5th Alterations), Chapter VII — The Judicature — Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) (https://placng.org/i/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Constitution-of-the-Federal-Republic-of-Nigeria-1999-Updated.pdf)
- Constitution of Nigeria (2011 consolidation), Section 6 — Judicial powers — Constitute Project (Comparative Constitutions Project) (https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Nigeria_2011)
- "Political Shari'a"? Human Rights and Islamic Law in Northern Nigeria — Human Rights Watch, Vol. 16, No. 9(A) (https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/nigeria0904/nigeria0904.pdf)
- Nigerian Legal System and Legal Research — GlobaLex, NYU School of Law (Hauser Global Law School Program) (https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/nigeria1.html)

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