NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adeyinka Aderemi, Omono Blessing Omaghomi and Ibukun Enigbokan, Streamsowers & Köhn
At the Magistrates’ Court level, states such as Lagos have introduced small claims courts that specialise in resolving matters involving sums up to NGN5 mil- lion efficiently within a few months. These expedited procedures ‒ combined with statutory timelines and specific rules – contribute to the efficient management of legal proceedings in Nigeria, ensuring that cases are resolved in a timely manner. 3.9 Funding and Costs There is no general rule or legal framework guiding costs and funding for collective redress/class actions. Class actions are typically funded collectively by the members of the class or by one or some of them. In some cases, where parties are not able to fund the action, a third party or an uninterested party in the class action (eg, a non-profit organisation) can assume responsibility for the action as an investment such that – if judgment is delivered in the favour of the claimants ‒ the third party would receive certain percentage of the judgment sum awarded to the claimants. Parties may also choose to enter a contingency fee agreement with their lawyer where payment is made for legal representation upon a successful conclusion of the case. Under this type of agreement, however, the lawyer is not allowed to advance the cost of litiga- tion except as a matter of convenience and subject to reimbursement. 3.10 Disclosure and Privilege The Nigerian judicial system accepts that parties to litigation should share documents and other informa- tion prior to trial. Parties must plead and provide in advance (“front-load”) all documents they require as proof of their case. During the trial, any party can apply to the court or the judge in chambers for an order directing the other par- ty to make discovery – that is, to disclose on oath the documents that are or have been in its possession or power. Similarly, any party can ask written questions required to be answered by the other party to clarify matters of fact and help to determine in advance what facts will be presented at any trial in the case. These questions are referred to as interrogatories.
Failure to make discovery of documents or to produce the disclosed documents for inspection or to answer the interrogatories, when ordered by the court, is con- tempt of court rendering the defaulting party liable to committal. The exception to the above-mentioned disclosures is where they are privileged from production or there are any other legally recognised grounds excluding their production. Privileged information includes: • documents that are self-incriminating; • documents created or shared by a party for the purpose of assisting a party or for use by the party’s legal representative in an existing or con- templated litigation (except information shared between a client and a legal practitioner in further- ance of or exposing any illegal or criminal purpose, or if such disclosure is in the interest of public policy or national security); • documents owned by a third party; and • letters or other documents marked “without preju- dice”. 3.11 Remedies Collective redress/class actions in Nigeria offer rem- edies that could be obtained by parties during the pendency of the suit and/or at the final judgment. In the pendency of the suit, the reliefs are in the form of interim and interlocutory orders, which are provisional in nature and are usually in the form of injunctions that restrain a party from performing an act or that mandate a party to act in a particular way. Interim orders are expected to last between seven or 14 days, depend- ing on the applicable court rules, or as directed by a court pending the hearing of an application that seeks to sustain the injunction until the determination of the suit motion or the occurrence of a particular event. Interlocutory orders usually take effect until the judg- ment is delivered in a suit. The remedies available in class actions are set out here. Declaratory Relief Declaratory relief is where the court makes find- ings and pronounces on a legal issue that has been brought to its attention. It merely confirms or denies a
208 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook