DISTINGUISHIING BETWEEN “INHERENT JURISDICTION OF THE COURT” AND “JURISDICTION OF THE COURT”

Legal principles can be dicey, especially as they closely relates with each other. The statement “inherent jurisdiction of court” and “jurisdiction of court” has often come up to debate under Nigerian legal landscape and continuous corrections by the court in Nigeria as to what it means and how it should be used permeates our legal history; but what does it mean?

Originally, it was a doctrine of the English common law that a superior court has the jurisdiction to hear any matter that comes before it unless a statute or rule limits that authority or grants exclusive jurisdiction to some other court or tribunal. In the English case of?Bremer Vulkan Schiffbau und Maschinenfabrik v. South India Shipping Corporation Ltd 2 WLR 141,?Lord Diplock?described the court's inherent jurisdiction as a general power to control its procedure to prevent its being used to achieve injustice.

In Okeke v APGA (2023) 17 NWLR (Pt. 1913) 211 which is a recent judgment of the Supreme Court, the court attempted to draw a variance between the “inherent jurisdiction of the court” and “jurisdiction of the court” when it held that:

The term "inherent?jurisdiction of the?court" does not mean the same thing as "jurisdiction of the?court" used without qualification or description. The two terms are not interchangeable as?the inherent?jurisdiction of the?court?is only a part or an aspect of its general?jurisdiction. The?inherent?power does not extend the?jurisdiction of a?court?of record. It only lubricates its statutory?jurisdiction which makes it work.

That is, the inherent jurisdiction serves as the lubricant which makes the statutory jurisdiction work smoothly. Furthermore, in PDP v LAWAL (2023) 12 NWLR (Pt. 1898) 205 the court gave a further lecture on what inherent jurisdiction means:

The term?inherent?jurisdiction denotes the legal authority or power vested in a?court?or tribunal to entertain, hear, and determine any matter or issue before it unless a statute or rule limits that authority or power. ?Jurisdiction is fundamentally statutory which is usually conferred on the?court?by the Constitution or the law creating it.?

In Lawal v EFCC (2020) 14 NWLR (Pt. 1744) 193 further light was given to the above position, especially as to how inherent jurisdiction deals with statutory jurisdiction when the court held that:

In addition to its statutory?jurisdiction, a?court?of record has its?inherent?jurisdiction which attaches to, and inheres in it, as an adjudicator. The?inherent?jurisdiction of a superior?court?of record is essential for its existence and necessary for the proper and complete administration of justice. The?inherent?power is innate in a?court?of record, it is not granted by the Constitution or by legislation nor can it be abridged. Further, section 6(6)(a) of the 1999 Constitution has recognized, endorsed, and preserved the?inherent?jurisdiction, powers, and sanctions of a?court?of record. (Further, see the case of Ikuforiji v F.R.N (2021) 6 NWLR (Pt. 1772) 249)

Academically speaking, the court used a lexicological approach in explaining what “inherent jurisdiction” means in the context of a court in the case Tidex (Nig) Ltd. V Maskew (1997) 1 NWLR (Pt. 482) 453 when it held that:

The inherent?power of a?court?and the statutory?jurisdiction of a?court?cannot co-exist. Once a?court?is by legislation conferred with power to deal with a subject matter, it exercises not an?inherent?power or?inherent?jurisdiction over that subject matter but statutory power or statutory?jurisdiction. (P. 467, para. B) Per NSOFOR, J.C.A. at pages 466-467, paras. H-C: "The word, "inherent" is a simple English word. It derives from the Latin: "inhaereo - inhaerere, - inhaesi, - inhaesum", meaning, "to stick in, cling to, cleave to". Therefore, "inherent?jurisdiction", of a?court?is that?jurisdiction which "sticks in" or "clings to" or "cleave to" the?court, by the very only, and only because it is a?court.

By the foregoing, it is crystal clear that whilst the inherent jurisdiction of the court comes by it being a court, statutory jurisdiction is vested upon the court by a law or statute. To exemplify this, a court by nature has the jurisdiction to attain judgment or organize the procedure for judgment; however, statutory jurisdiction can allocate to the court what case or cases can this inherent jurisdiction be leveraged on.

·???????? INHERENT “JURISDICTION OF THE COURT” AND “JURISDICTION OF THE COURT” IN APPEAL CASES

There is also the need to draw this argument further to cases of appeal and when the appeal court can be said to have an “inherent jurisdiction”. The Court of Appeal, being the penultimate court, held in OKAFOR v OKAFOR (2000) 11 NWLR (Pt. 677) 21 that:

?The?inherent?jurisdiction or powers of the?court?of Appeal means different things when used in relation to the exercise of the original and appellate?jurisdiction of the?court?of Appeal. In relation to the original?jurisdiction of the?court, the?inherent?powers of the?court?of Appeal are the powers?inherent?in trial?courts or?courts of first instance, while in relation to the appellate?jurisdiction, the?inherent?powers of the?court?of Appeal are the powers that necessarily flow from and in aid of the effective exercise of that?jurisdiction.

To further explain the above assertion which differentiates between when a court is sitting as a court of first instance and when it sits as an appellate court, the law lords at the Court of Appeal further held that:

In the instant case, the applicants' motion that gave rise to the respondents' preliminary objection does not relate to the exercise of the judicial powers of the?court?of Appeal in respect of matters over which it has original?jurisdiction.?

Hence, there is a need to differentiate both aspects of the law and know what ambits and bounds the court can draw out. This is because, jurisdiction is an important thing that serves as the bedrock, fulcrum, and foundation upon which all legal proceedings can stand, the absence of it makes nullity every legal effort.

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Legal Researcher and Writer, Oliver Azi is a law graduate from the University of Jos and can be reached via email at: [email protected] or LinkedIn at: www.dhirubhai.net/in/oliver-azi-76b323182

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