Judicial Reform of 1933 and the Native Courts in Ibadan
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Date
2018
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Ado Journal of History and International Studies
Abstract
The Judicial reform of 1933 became very important and necessary because of the defects noticeable in the courts system by about 1930. A general overhaul and re-organization was implemented in 1933, under the Leadership of Governor Cameron. To implement the reform, four major ordinances were promulgated: the Supreme Court (Amendment) Ordinance, the Protectorate Court Ordinance, the West African Court of Appeal Ordinance and the Native Courts Ordinance. This reform attempted a reorganization of the Native Court system in Nigeria generally. The concern of this paper is to examine the judicial reform of 1933 with a view to see the extent to which it affected the Native Court structure and the consequence of the reform on the operation of the Native Courts. This study relied on oral sources collected from some Ibadan chiefs, elders and some other custodian of culture and traditional jurisprudence. Relevant information was collected from archival materials. Secondary sources related to the subject were also consulted. This, study is approached from socio-historical perspective. This study concludes that the complications that the Native Court Ordinance created in the process of its operation led to the need to substitute the Native Courts with the Customary Courts in 1958.