NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adeyinka Aderemi, Omono Blessing Omaghomi and Ibukun Enigbokan, Streamsowers & Köhn
1.2 Basis for the Legislative Regime, Including Analogous International Laws Generally, just as the principles of common law and equity were inherited from England, so also were the rules of the old Supreme Court of Nigeria fashioned out of those applicable in the English county courts. When the old Supreme Court was federalised, giving way to High Courts in each of the Nigerian regions and in what was then the Federal Capital of Lagos, these High Courts made their individual rules of court; these rules were substantially based on those of the defunct court. The rules of each High Court in the country therefore derived from the rules of procedure of the county courts in England. However, it is interesting to note that ‒ with regard to class actions – it does not appear that provisions in the Nigerian rules of court were modelled after the regime in the UK, as class actions are not allowed in the UK. In the USA, Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Pro- cedure (Fed R Civ P 23) (“Rule 23”) is the principal source of law relating to class actions in US federal courts. Most US states have enacted standards anal- ogous to Rule 23 that govern class action proceedings in their respective state courts. However, in 2005, the US Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) (28 USC Section 1332 (d)). This marks a salient difference from the Nigerian regime, in which there is no legislation passed by the National Assembly (Par- liament or Congress or legislative arm of government) that legislates solely for class actions. The provisions of the Nigerian rules of court and Rule 23 in the USA are similar. However, some of the provi- sions of Rule 23 in the USA that are not contained in the Nigerian rules of court are as follows. • The court must be satisfied that prosecuting sepa- rate actions by or against individual class members would create a risk of: (a) inconsistent or varying adjudications with regard to individual class members that would establish incompatible standards of conduct for the party opposing the class action; or (b) adjudications with regard to individual class members that, as a practical matter, would be
dispositive of the interests of the other mem- bers not party to the individual adjudications or would impair or impede their ability to protect their interests. • There is a provision for a certification order where- by the court certifies the action as a class action, defines the class members, appoints the class counsel who must meet certain requirements, defines the class and the class issues, claims or defences. Such an order may be amended before judgment. 1.3 Implementation of the EU Collective Redress Regime Nigeria is not an EU member state and is therefore not subject to the EU collective redress regime. Nigeria’s jurisdiction operates under its own legal framework and regulations for class action lawsuits. 2. Legal Framework 2.1 Collective Redress and Class Action Legislation There are currently no principal laws governing collec- tive redress/class actions in Nigeria. However, these types of action are recognisable and permissible by virtue of the provisions of existing civil procedure rules of the High Courts of the various states in Nigeria, the Federal High Court, and the National Industrial Court of Nigeria. 2.2 Scope of Areas of Law to Which the Legislation Applies The applicable civil procedure rules of various courts in Nigeria determine the areas of law such rules per- mit for class action lawsuits. Some of these are men- tioned here. Order 15 Rule 13 (1) of the Lagos 2019 Rules provides that class actions can be instituted in the following areas of law: • the administration of estates; • properties subject to a trust; • land held under customary law as family or com- munity property; and
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