# Nigeria's Legal System

> Nigeria operates a pluralist legal system built on four coexisting sources of law: received English common law and equity, customary law rooted in local ethnic practice, Islamic (Sharia) law applied mainly to Muslims in the north, and constitutional and statutory legislation. No single tradition displaces the others; the 1999 Constitution sits above all four and determines which one a given dispute, place, or set of parties falls under.

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

## Key facts
- **Formal sources of law:** Constitution, legislation, English common law/equity, customary law, Islamic law, judicial precedent
- **English law reception cutoff:** Statutes of general application in force in England on 1 January 1900
- **Pre-independence statutes:** Remain in force unless repealed by a Nigerian legislature since 1 October 1960
- **Customary law validity test:** Must not be repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience
- **Sharia's personal-status scope:** In continuous operation in the north since before the colonial period
- **Sharia's criminal-law scope:** Added by state legislation in 12 northern states from 2000 onward
- **Supreme law:** Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Section 1)

## Sources
- Nigerian Legal System and Legal Research — GlobaLex, NYU School of Law (Hauser Global Law School Program) (https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/nigeria1.html)
- 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)
- Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Updated with the 1st–5th Alterations) — 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)

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