LAW 1301 - LEGAL METHODS.

Dr, Nuhu M.Idris

Lecture Notes.

COURSE OUTLINES :
(1) The Concept of Legal Methods
(2) The Concept of Law
- Meaning of Law
- Features of Law
- Functions of Law
- Law and Other Related Concepts
- Classifications of Law
(3) Theories of Law
(4) Sources of Law
(a) Sources of Origin (b) Sources of Authority
(5) Law in Social Context
LECTURE NOTES
LECTURE 1
The Concept of Legal Methods
The terms "legal" and "method", combine to form the phrase "legal
method." In common usage, the term "method" refers to a procedure or
the state of being well planned and organised. The adjective "legal," by
definition, suggests something having to do with the law. In order for law
to be most effectively used as a tool of social control, it must be fully
recognized, that law functions in a society according to specific
procedures. Legal method can therefore be defined as an attempt to
explain or analyse the technique of 'thinking like a lawyer. In other
words , it is studying how laws are used and constructed in order to
obtain understanding of how they are designed and structured to
accomplish its objectives in the society.

Importance of Legal Methods

(1) It enable students to get proper understanding of law.

(2) It enable a student of law to understand other law courses.

(3) It enhance legal reasoning.

(4) It helps students to know how to apply rules to arguments.

(5) It helps in adequate application of law.

(6) It enable students get the proper understanding of issues, its function,
features and nature of law.

(7) It equips members of the legal profession the skills of legal reasoning.
 WHAT IS LAW?
LECTURE 2
- Dr Nuhu M. Idris
General Overview.
This is a question without a straight forward answer, because there is
no universal definition of ‘Law’. Legal experts tried to defined Law on
their own perspectives, leading to no universally agreed definition, but
the key definition of Law that led to that argument is that “ Law is a body
of rules that regulates the human conducts”. Most of these experts
propound or provide different approach in analysing the above definition.
This led to the establishment of different schools of thought.
LECTURE 3
Theories of Law ( Schools of Thought)
There are several generally accepted theories concerning the origin
of law. theory is a comprehensive explanation concerning some aspects
of how society works. It directs one's thinking on the subject by offering
explanation and allowing predictions to be made concerning the future
contingencies. In short, a theoretical viewpoint governs the way that a
social phenomenon is seen and understood.

(1) The Natural Law School: This theory tries to distinguish between
Law and morality, that is, moral values of a society is the foundation of
every Law applicable in that society. From this perspective Law is a body
of moral rules which can be universally deduced from nature. By this ,
Law is what human being perceive through reasons and wisdom and
agreed that such thing is just and necessary to the society. They argued
that Law has a divine and supernatural origin. Therefore, for a Law to be
valid, it most conforms with certain moral objectives of human being as
dictated by reasoning. The founder of this school is SAINT THOMAS
AQUINAS.

(2) Positive Law School: The word "positive law derives from the
word "posit" which means "to put" or "to place." Positive law is,
therefore, the law put, placed or imposed upon the situations by
the rulers. The chief protagonist of this theory, JOHN AUSTLE, he
defines law as, “a command set by a superior being to inferior
beings and enforced by sanctions”. The superior being is the
sovereign, while the inferior beings are his subjects From this
definition of Austle we may understand different aspects such as the
sovereign, command, duty, punishment and sanction.

(3) Historical school: This school of thought was founded by

FRIEDRICH CARLVON SAVIGNY, a German aristocrat. Historical school of
Law deals with the past and present events. It is based on customs, king’s
judgements and trait followed. Law is the creation of interactions
between the local situations and conditions of people, the Law is not
founded by any political superior but found and given by people. It
argued and stated that Law should be a product of the custom of society.
The historical theory is of the view that Law should be a restatement of
the history of the people.

(4) Utilitarian school: The chief proponent of this school is JEREMY

BENTHAM. For him, the task of Law is to promote communal utility.
Utility in this context means that which affects people’s happiness.
Government, by making the proper Law, should seeks to promote the
greatest good of the greater number of people. He identified four main
utilities which were; security, equality, liberty and abundance. A major
criticism of this school is that, it fails to solve the problems of how the
balancing of both individual and communal interest can be achieved.

(5) Realist school: This school was founded by OLIVER WENDELL

HOLMES. The realist on the concept of Law, focused mainly on the
court system. Particularly, trial courts with the ultimate objectives of
reforming the judicial system. This school rejects traditional definitions
of Law and also avoids any dogmatic formulation regarding it null and
void, and fully concentrates on decisions given by the courts of Law.
(6) Sociological school: Sociological school is to establish a relation
between the Law and society. The founder of this school is EUGENE
EHRLICH, he analyzed that one could not know the Law of the society by
merely reading through the formal legal resources, rather one should go
to the society to appraise how that Law is obeyed, ignored, executed,
modified or supplemented by the society.

(7) The Pure Theory of Law: This School of thought is led by HANS
KELSON. The pure theory of law postulated by Prof. Hans Kelson
disagrees with the command theory and describes it as nonsensical. For
Kelson, law is a system of norms. A law is valid if it has been created by a
norm which itself has been created by a higher norm within the legal
order. The logical connection of norms in this order will continue until
we arrive at a non-law created entity, which is called the grundnorm.
While every other norm is generated from the grundnorm and their
validity is traceable to it, the origin or validity of the grundnorm is not
traceable to any norm. Thus, the norm forbidding the killing of another
person in certain circumstances (murder) is valid because it is laid down
in the Criminal Code.The Criminal Code is valid because it was enacted
by the legislature; the law made by the legislature is valid because the
legislature has been constituted and is functioning in accordance with
the relevant laws; the constitution is valid because it has been
promulgated into law as the Act of the people. The main element of pure
theory of law is that the legal validity of each rule is determined simply
by reference to the question whether it has been laid down, or posited,
in accordance with whatever requirements as stipulated by legal systems
in questions.
LECTURE 2.1
Features of Law
(1) Law is a Body of Rules: It is easy to assume that 'law' can be found
in one book, which will give answer to every legal question. If this were
true, there would be little need for lawyers! Clearly it is not true. As a
matter of fact, law consists of multifarious rules, some of which are
contained in several sources such as the Constitution, and several other
statutes and cases decided by the courts in disputes involving individuals
and individual and government. Hence, the laws that govern the day-to-
day activities and conduct of individuals are contained in laws made by
the legislature such as Sale of Goods Act, Criminal or Penal Code e.t.c and
case laws.

(2) Law is Man-Made: Law and rules are made by the society through
their representatives. More so, this is one of the main distinctive features
of Law. Other meanings of Law like Law of gravity, Law of
thermodynamics etc. are not made by man, they are Laws made by
nature. Therefore, it is the society that determine what is good for them.
Hence, if a Law is good, the society will enjoy. Likewise, if a Law is bad,
the society should blame itself not God. Example of man-made Law; the
statute, case Law and delegated legislation.
(3) Law is Normative in Character: Law is rule or system of rules. A
rule prescribes what activities may, should or should not be carried out,
or refers to the activities that should be carried out in a specified way.
Because a rule guides us in what we may, ought or ought not to do, it is
said to be normative. Law shares this characteristic with all other rules
such as religious, moral and customary rules.
(4) It Has an Element of Coercion: Breach of legal rules is usually
enforced by means of sanction or coercion through organized
institutions such as the police force, law courts, tribunals, prisons etc.
This is best illustrated with criminal law.

(5) Territorial Limitation: Laws are usually made to guide the conduct
of the people of a particular society or territory and are binding on the
people within that society or territory. Because it is applicable only
within the boundary of a country or society, that is to say, you can not
apply the Law of one country in another country or within the same
country you cannot apply the Law of one state in another state.
(6) Law is Dynamic: The opposite of dynamic is static. If a law is static,
it means it does not change. While dynamic connotes something that is
likely to change. Therefore, a law is dynamic when it changes with
respect to time. When the society changes, so as the laws that govern
the conducts of the people change. The contents of the law during the
colonial rule were different from the contents of Nigerian laws after the
attainment of independent in 1960. More so, the contents of the
Nigerian laws during the military rule are fundamentally different from
what is obtained under a democratically elected government.
LECTURE 2.2
Functions of Law
Law performs different functions in the society. Some Laws were
enacted to achieve some particular objectives, while other Laws were
made to achieve many objectives at the same time, but the best way to
understand the functions of law is to look into the specific functions
perform by the law in the society. The specific functions of law are as
follow:

(1) Definition and Regulation of Social Relationship: It is the initial

relationship that exists in every society, because every society starts with
a family and gradually into larger society. For instance; the freedom of
associating with eachother is performed by the law as it states the
requirements of associating with eachother. Once this has been satisfied
the law will recognised the association of the member of a society.
However, when members of the society decide to form an association
that fails to satisfy the requirement stated by the law, such associate is
in-legal and the membership of that association is a crime, such as
cultism.

(2) Allocation of Official Authority: The law organise specific

institutions and vest in them with authority, for people to man this
institutions. The effect of section 4,5 and 6 of the 1999 Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) established the legislative,
executive and the judicial arm of government, to perform or exercise the
power within the limit specified by the 1999 Constitution ( CFRN).
(3) Disputes Settlement and Remedies: Among the function of law
is that it establish a formal mechanism for settlement of disputes. In
forms of Court, Judicial and administrative tribunals e.t.c. The law
provides appropriate remedies where a party has suffered injury due to
the action or inaction of the other party.

(4) Change of Law: As discussed in the features of law dynamism is

included (changes). Therefore the contents of the law in every society
changes when the society changes. One of the function of law is to
closely follow the prevailing change in the society, by way of ‘Amending
or Repealing’ the existing laws with a new one.
LECTURE 2.3
Law and Other Related Concepts
There is need to distinguish Law and other related concepts. As
these concepts are often used interchangeable with the concept of
Law, particularly by the laymen, because they developed an assumption
that this concept means the same thing with the concept of Law.

(1) Law and Order: The classical function of any government is to

maintain law and order. Law is a body of rules that regulate the human
conduct. While the primary aim of law is to maintain order, it suffices to
say that this objective may not be achieved unless the law is well
administered and enforce with fear or favour Therefore, for the Law to
achieve that aim, it requires order, because it is the order that expresses
the actual command given.

(2) Law and morality: morality is defined as the principle that

prescribes right and wrong, good and bad behavior in a society. Whereas,
Law is a body of rules given to the society by constituted authority always
backed by sanction by its disobedient. Law and morality are related in
term of describing right and wrong in a society.

(3) Law and Freedom: Freedom is the ability to do what a person wants
to do and not to do what he doesn’t want to do. However, this freedom
is not absolute, the Law is always there to limits such freedom by
imposing some obligation on the person exercising the freedom. The
fundamental human rights are not absolute, in the sense that they are
still restricted in certain ways to ensure the freedom of others or
facilitate certain State actions. For instance, the freedom of speech does
not include the freedom to speak or write a disregarding flase statement
about another person. Therefore, the freedom of speech must be
balanced with another person's right to be free from defamation of
character.

(4) Law and legitimacy: In the early period of legal system, legitimacy
was based on charismatic qualities of the particular leaders and
traditional rulers. Gradually it becomes a matter of law, meaning a thing
in accordance with the law or rules. Therefore it is the Law that creates
the legitimacy because all those who exercise legitimate power derive
their right to do so from the law.

(5) Law and state: The state is an entity that satisfy the following
requirements; defined territory, population and sovereignty. All these
requirements are created by Law. Therefore, it is a right to say that Law
creates the state. The Law on other hand cannot operates without a state,
the Law requires a state to operates as it cannot operate in alone .
(6) Law and justice: In ordinary parlance, law and justice are synonyms.
However, justice is the correct application of a law, as opposed to
arbitrariness. While law is the body of rules that regulate the humans
conduct. Law is therefore not an end in itself, but a means to achieving
justice.
LECTURE 2.4
Classification of Law
The law can be classified into terms in which it render to people and
the society in general.

(1) Law in Terms of Interest to be Protected:

a) public law and
b) private law
Public law, is concern with the protection of the state and its organs. It
governs the relationship between the state and the citizens. Example of
public law include; Constitution law, administrative law, criminal law,
international law e.t.c. It embraces a legal relationship where one of the
parties, that is, the state is higher in legal status than the other that is
the citizen.

Private law, on the other hand is concerned with the relationship

between individuals. It deals with the protection of individual rights.
Private laws include; law of Contract, Torts, Family law, and succession,
Law of evidence, company law, Equity and trust and Property law e.t.c.
(2) Law in Terms of Remedy:
a) Criminal law and
b) Civil law

Criminal law, is the branch of law which seeks to protect the interest
of the public at large by punishing certain conducts which are believed
to be harmful to the society, to permit such conduct to exit or continue.
Punishment is impose generally or fine or both. Examples of Criminal law
are murder, rape, burglary, traffic offences and assault e.t.c

Civil law, the word term civil law may connotes something that is not
criminal law. Civil law means the law which defines the rights and duties
of persons to oneanother and provide a system whereby an individual
who is injured by wrongful act of another party can be compensated for
the damages which he has suffered. Examples of Civil law are; Law of
Contract, Tort, Land law, Family law, and Company law e.t.c.

(3) Law in Terms of Right and the Enforcement of the Right:

a) Substantive law and
b) Procedural law
Substantive law, means the rule of law themselves. In other word it
means the body of legal rules. It is the law that prohibits the doing or not
the doing of certain things by the citizens. It defines a code of conduct
and prescribes a penalty for the violation of that code. The citizen has no
right than to obey the law as it is. A breach or violation of substantive
law may result to imprisonment, compensation and so on. Substantive
law embraces subjects such as ; law of Contract, Torts, Criminal law and
Constitutional law which are concerned with statement of rights, duties
and liabilities of individuals.

Procedural law, it deals with method of proceedings and enforce a

certain rights or duty and how the litigation or prosecution is conducted.
In other words , it is the procedural rule by which the law therefore
specifies the ways in which an action is to be initiated in courts, the mode
of proofs, the manner of prosecution of evidence, the method of given
evidence at trial, the examination of witnesses, the manner of giving
judgement and the Enforcement of the judgement in court .

4) Law in Terms of Territoriality:

a) Municipal/ National or Domestic law and

b) International law.
Municipal can be used interchangeably with national, domestic or local
law. It means the internal law of a particular country. It embodies the
laws of a country that regulates the relationship between individuals and
between the individuals and the state.

International law, is the law between countries. It regulate the

relationship between different independent countries and is usually in
the form of treaties, international customs e.t.c. Examples of
International law include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the African Charter on Human and People's Rights.
5) Law in Terms of Where to Find the Law
a) Written law and
b) Unwritten law
Written laws, means rules that have been formally enacted into a
legislation or statute by the legislature. Such laws before their enactment
are usually subjected to rigorous debates and serious scrutiny through
several stages before they are enacted and sign into law by the chief
executive officer of the state. Written laws are usually found in a
document or more documents. Written laws are called by different
names in different jurisdictions and at various times. They may be called
Codes, statutes, Acts, Decrees, Edicts, Laws and Rules or ordinance.

Unwritten laws, means any principle or rule of behaviour that is not

written down at all, as in the case of customary law. It could also mean
an unenacted law even if the principles are reduced into writing as in
case law. A good example of the unwritten law is the British Constitution,
while a greater proportion of unwritten laws of any country are its
customary laws .
 LECTURE 4
SOURCES OF LAW ( Well Covered by Onimisi's Care)
LECTURE 5
Law in Social Context
Law is a means of social control, social control may be described as the
control of social behaviour, that is, behaviours that affect others. The
term ‘Social control’ is a technical expression coined by a sociologists. It
was first used by one of the father's of sociology, Edward A. Ross, to refer
to certain regulative institutions, which function to ensure that
individuals behave in conformity with group demand.

Law as a Means of Social Control

This is the formal means of social control as it is apply through a
systematic way. The law use some techniques in achieving the social
control, and these techniques are fully recognised by the law, and
members of the society uphold or recognise those techniques and
consider them as a way of life. These techniques are as follow:

(1) The Penal Technique

This technique is used for creating offences and punishments, that is to
say the law pick certain behaviour and criminalised them as well as
imposing some punishment for the violation of such criminalised
behaviour. The law also provides the method or procedure of
ascertaining whether a member of a society has violated or committed
the prohibited behaviour. In essence this technique is the basis for our
Criminal Justice System, which comprises of the following stakeholders;
the police, the law enforcement agencies, the court, the prosecution, the
defense and the correctional services.
(2) Grievance - Remedial Technique
This is the opposite of the penal technique, in the sense that it comprises
of mechanism for resolving or settling private interest. It is applicable
through the civil law process.

(3) Private Arrangement Technique

By the private arrangement technique, it is meant a system whereby the
law provides a framework of rules which will determine the validity of
private transactions, leaving it to the individual to make an option of
arranging his private affairs within that framework. This technique
operate essentially on the area of civil law. Examples of private
arrangement technique are ; entering into marriage, settlement of trust
and making a will.

(4) The Constitutive Technique

This technique could be seen as the offshoot of the private arrangement
technique in the sense that individuals do not have to set company.
However, if they desire to do so, they must observe the requirements
laid down by law so that their desired limited liability company can come
into existence. In essence creation of a legal person is the distinction
characteristics of the constitutive technique.

(5) The Fiscal Technique

The classical aim of taxation is to raise money in modern time. This
technique of social control involves the government using taxation to
control the behavior of citizens. For example, if government wants to
discourage a particular business or transaction, it imposes higher tax
rates on them. It also involves the use of fines in order to discourage
some actions. The government agencies responsible for the
administration of the various taxes are the Federal Board of Inland
Revenue (FRIB) and the State Board of Internal Revenue (SBIR) at the
federal level and state level respectively. These bodies are established
under the personal income Tax Act. The Custom and Excise Management
Act. In essence the fiscal technique is used to discourage certain anti-
social behaviours thereby helping to bring about a measure of social
order.
 LEGAL METHOS (LAW 1301)

2022/2023 SESSION: FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATION QUESTIONS :

Question one:
a) It is a common belief in the Legal Profession that there are as
numerous definitions of Law as there are lawyers. This is why experts
viewed the word “Law” from different perspectives. These views are
subscribed to by people in a particular school of thought/jurisprudence,
which gradually transformed into different theories of Law.

Succinctly explain the above statement.

b) All society and all social groups have mechanisms to ensure
conformity to norms, which are called social control mechanisms. Social
control means the processes and methods used by members of a society
or a group to maintain social order/peace(social order) by enforcing
agreed behavior. Law is one of the means of social change that exists in
society.

Citing relevant examples, discuss the above statement.

Question two:
Discuss the interface of Law, morality, order, justice, freedom, and
sovereignty.
Question three:

Classification schemes allow a Law student to appreciate the diverse

nature of Law. While citing relevant examples, fully discuss the various
classification of Law.
Question four:
Every country in the world has its own sources of Law. Thus it is
important for Law students to identify and understand the various
sources of Law. With the aid of relevant authorities, fully analyze the
sources of Nigerian Law.
Question five:
The word ‘Law’ may means a lot of things for different people. For
instance, we have the Law of gravity, the Law of demand and supply and
we have criminal Law. Knowing the specific features and characteristics
of Law is very important to a Law student.

Please expatiate this assertion.

THE END
 LAW 1309
ENGLISH FOR LEGAL WRITING
Dr, Aliyu Mustapha and Mallam Muhammad Auwal Salihu
Lecture Notes.

COURSE OUTLINE:
(1) What is Legal Writing
(2) Brief History of The Legal Profession in Nigeria
(3) Language and Thought
(4) Basic Principles of Legal Writing
(5) Features of Legal Writing
(6) Writing and Drafting Skills
(7) Stages of Drafting
LECTURE NOTES

LECTURE 1

What is Legal Writing

Legal writing is a specialized form of writing adopted by the members

of the legal profession. Legal writing can also be defined as the art
through which lawyers express their thoughts in writing. In another
sense, legal writing may mean the synthesis of law and facts in a
written language form.

Legal writing is synonymous to legal drafting and may be used

interchangeably in this article. What then is drafting? Drafting is a legal
composition. It is a process where documents are carefully written with
the use of working knowledge of English language and writing skills.
Drafting therefore is the drawing up and composing legal documents
such as pleadings, bills and laws, letters, affidavits, conveyances and
wills among several others. Drafting may also mean an "advanced form
of legal writing that is adopted by the members of the legal profession.

To be able to have a meaningful draft it is important for the legal

draftsman to understand the art and rules of legal writing. Since legal
writing is a means of communication, lawyer's primary concern should
be to communicate clearly with the reader in an accurate and precise
manner. Legal documents must be written in simple, clear and plain
language. Simplicity, precision and clarity are emphasized.
LECTURE 2
Brief History of The Legal Profession in Nigeria
★★★ In 1804 Usman Dan Fodio assembled the Fulani army and led
war against the Hausa kingdom of the Northern Nigeria.

★★★ The first Indeginious lawyer was Chief Christopher Alexander

Sapara Williams. Who was called to the English bar in England, in the
year 17th November, 1879, in one of the English Inns known as the
Inner Temple . In 1880 he headed back from the United Kingdom to
Lagos Colony, further enrolling in the Nigerian Bar Association and
started practicing the law in Nigeria.

★★★ In 1959, because of these challenges the then federal

Government Constituted a Committee called the Unsworth
Committee, and was led by EIG UNSWORTH.

( Well Covered By Onimisi's Care)

LECTURE 3
Language and thought / The language of the Law
( Well Covered By Onimisi's Care)
LECTURE 4
Principles of Legal Writing
(1) Aim of Writing : A writer must first know and appreciate why he
is writing. A writer must place at the back of his mind the reasons,
objectives and purpose of writing. For instance your aim of writing
maybe to inform, convince, encourage fercilitate or to reply. Therefore
the aim of writing must be clearly known by an author before actually
writing.

(2) Audience : Generally, the aim or purpose of writing is influenced

by the audience, while the author is the writer, the audience is the
person or persons to which the writing is made for. The audience
answers the question "who is the person I am writing to, Some item to
consider knowing your audience

a) Their gender

b) Academic qualification and

c) Psychology

Also the tone of writing is always dictated by the audience you are
communicating to. For instance ‘A letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN) will naturally not be the same in language content and choice of
words, with the letter to the Registrar of the Magistrate Court’.

(3) Planning : It is simply an intention and the preparation to

communicate effectively. A writer must we be physically and
psychologically stable and be prepared with his writing tools before
writing. “ The doctrine of the 5Ps (Proper, Preparation - Prevent, Poor,
Performance,) There is also a statement stated by Lord Stevensen that
say “It is not for you to write but to write what you mean, not to affect
your reader, but to to affect him precisely as you wish”. Therefore, the
manner, when and how to write is a very important consideration for a
good writer.

(4) Layout: It is simply the structure or pattern adopted. It is part of

layout to take care of heading and sub-headings, Paragrahing and
conclusion, indentation and the general style of writing. Layout for our
own purpose is for actual formality interms of writeup, and how to
divide the documents into fragments and the use of figures and
drawing where necessary. They also include where and how to place
attaching images, enclosures et cetera.

Basically, these are the four rules in which a person who wants
to write a legal document should consider before writing.
LECTURE 5

Futures of Legal Writing

For legal writing, there are distinctive features which a writer ought to
comply with, these features among others include:

(1) Formality: One of the features of legal writing is formality. Each

legal document has its own legal format which is expected to be
comply with, deviation from such format may be fatal to someone's
case or may affect the information sought to be Communicated.
Therefore a law student or legal draftman is expected to comply with
the legally acceptable way of writing or the official writing roles of such
document. It is in that regard that one is expected whenever he is to
draft a legal document ensure thot ‘Precedent books’and ‘Practice
books’ are by his side.

"A precedent book is a book containing samples of legally

recognized actions and draft for future reference. Example of
Precedence books are; Kelly's draftman, Sample draft for lawyers.

A Practice Book is a book that contain substantive aspect of the law in

essence, therefore there is need for a draft man to put some effort
when writing so that he may write well and for the massage to affect
his reader precisely as he wish. It is said “Whoever is writing without
an effort will be read without pleasure”.

In a formal legal writing, you should make a statement like “The

trial court judgement was set aside by the appellate court” and you
can say “There is a lawsuit between Mr A and B pending before the
supreme court”.

(2) Vocabulary : A well prepared legal document will generally

contain right choice of words, Phrases and Sentences, and will also
contain good spelling and proper punctuation marks. Regarding the
choice of words one is xpected to use words which are short and familia
rather than long and not Familia words. It Should however have in it
that legal legal flavour so as to distinguish it from other common
writing.

It is allowed to use some technical terminologies while drafting.

However, your audience need to be considered while choosing which
word to use. For this purpose technical terminologies are classified into
into the following:

a) Every day words that when used in law have different meaning From
the everyday usage. For Example; Charge, Action, Assignment and party
e.t.c.

b) Archaich Vocabulary: Which involves some outdated words and

phrases that were formally part of everyday usage but are hardly use
nowadays except in law. Words like; Hearing after, Hereby, whereas,
However and where after e.t.c.

c) Words and phrases borrowed from other languages, French and

Latin. Words like; Aquisance, Ratio Decidendi, Obita Dictum, and
Habeas corpus e.t.c.
 It should be noted that tautology, Slangs should as much as
possible be minimized. Also there should be consistence while using
words.

d) For sentence: It should be in plain and easily understood English. A

sentence is expected to comply with the subject- verb - Object Format,
and it is always desirable that it should be in "Active voice" rather than
Pasive voice", unless there is a need to concile the subject or his
identity. For example ;

- The High Court senteced the accused to 5 years imprisonment (Active

voice).

- The accused was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment (Passive voice).

e) Spelling : Correct spelling must be use in drafting legal document. In

Nigeria we use the standard British English in Legal drafting. Wrong use
of spelling may lead to misunderstanding of the massage by the reader.

f) Puntuations: Puntuation marks aid clearily and enable the

sentence to convey the intended meaning. To stress the important of
puntuation marks, Section 3 of the Interpretation Act (LFN), provides
that: “Punctuation forms part of an enactment, and regard shall be
had to it accordingly in construing the enactment”.

Wrong use of punctuations may entirely change the meaning of a

particular text. For instance; take a critical look at the two sentences
below, they give different meanings dictated by the punctuations:

The V.C said: "The student was expelled."

"The V.C" said the student "was expelled."

In the first sentence above, it is the V.C that is saying a particular

student was expelled.

While in the second sentence, it is the student that is saying the V.C
was expelled.

More so, it is important that a legal draftsman use punctuations as

carpenters will use small nails and glue to put his structure in a better
shape.

(3) Authority : An authority is any piece of information that gives

support or strength to your points. An authority can also be seen as any
portion of the law that is used to support your statements. Any
assertion made in Law should be backed by authorities, which gives rise
to the Law of Evidence principle of ‘He who asserts must prove’. For
example, someone writing about Fundamental Human Rights will
postulate that ―everyone has the right to life. Yes, everyone has the
right to life, but, in law, whenever you say anything, you will have to
back it up with proves. For example, if you postulate that everyone has
the right to life, you will have to support your postulation by making
reference to Section 33 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, which says that : Every person has a right to life,
and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life.

One of the things you will see in legal writing is authority and it is also
one of the most important/special features of legal writing.
Forms of Authority
Authority exists in two forms:
1) Statutory authority

2) Judicial authority

Statutory Authority : This is a kind of authority that is derived from

statutes. A statue is a law enacted by either the federal or state
parliament. Therefore, any written form of law is a statute. Another
name for a statute is ‘law’ or ‘legislation’, but the best synonym of
statute is ‘legislation’.
Judicial Authority : This simply means courts‘ decisions and that is
what we call Case law in the Nigeria Legal System. If a court decides a
matter, the decision of the court becomes an authority, and,to some
extent, used as stare decisis (judicial precedent). Therefore, be
informed that whenever you write without any authority, you may not
gain judgment.
LECTURE 6
Writing and Drafting Skills
Drafting is legal writing. Drafting skills is synonymous to legal writing
skills. Legal writing and drafting skills is the process of expressing our
thoughts through the medium of communication. Remember that the
main function of a lawyer is to represent his client. Clients are the
masters of facts, while lawyers are the masters of the laws.

Legal writing may also means, the synthesis of fact and law in a
written form. It is the process of gathering the fact of a client and
marrying it with the appropriate laws. While skill is the ability to do
something well, the attribute, the technique, the intensive mental
creative ability to do something unique and presentable is a skill.

STAGES OF DRAFTING
(1) Understanding clients Instruction
Instructions are guidelines, they are the things that guide you on what
to do. Therefore, understanding client's instructions is very important,
since the business of a lawyer is to represent his client. The best way to
understand client's instructiotn is through ‘Client interview’, it is a
process whereby a legal practitioner elicits all the relevant facts with a
view of rendering legal services to his client.

(2) Analysis
Aalyzing a client's instructions typically involves careful review and
understanding the details provided by the client in order to determine
their needs, preference and objectives. This analysis helps to ensure
that the client's requirements are fully understood and can be
effectively acted upon.

(3) The Design

Designing client's instrution involves creating clear and comprehensive
guidelines or directions for a client to follow. This typically includes
defining the scope of work, outlining expectations, specifying
requirements, and providing any necessary information or steps to
complete a project or task successfully. Effective client's instructions
should be easy to understand and leave no room for ambiguity.

(4)Composition
The composition of client's instructions refers to the process of
organizing and structuring the information provided by a client in a
clear and coherent manner. Proper composed instructions help ensure
that the client's needs or concerns are accurately understood and are
addressed. It typically involves breaking down complex issues, into clear
and concise statements to facilitate effective communication and
problem solving.

(5) Editing or Scrutiny

Editing is the post writing stage, meaning after you have finished
writing your documents, you need one last skill which is editing. As a
draftman, you can't just write and submit, you will have to edit it by
scrutinizing what you have written by the time you have finished
writing. This process is often necessary to ensure that the instructions
are easily understood and can be acted upon accurately. Editors may
remove unnecessary details, correct grammatical errors, sentences or
phrases for clarity and structure the instructions in a logical order. To
provide effective needs and requirements of a client.
ENGLISH FOR LEGAL WRITING I(LAW 1309)

2022/2023 SESSION: FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATION QUESTIONS :

Q1. General Design provides a good guide to a draftsman in drawing up

a legal document. Elucidate in the light of the stages of drafting.
Q2. Convince the Dean of Law on the following;

a. Advocacy and drafting are the twin pillars of legal practice.

b. The relationship that exists between language and thought are so
inextricably connected in both the art of elegant drafting and effective
communication.
Q3. Analysis is a skill that requires extensive exercise and may involve
legal research which is very vital in legal representation. Discuss with
pertinent illustrations.
Q4. Formality, diction and the use of authorities are some of the basic
features that distinguishes legal writing with other forms of writing.
Adumbrate with relevant authorities
Q5. Write short note on any two (2) items below;
a. General Principles of Legal Writing
b. Techniques of taking Client Instructions
c. The relevance of selected four (4) courses offered by LLB 1
students to legal practices.

THE END