Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:27:45.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Fundamental Right to a Passport Under Nigerian Law: An Integrated Viewpoint

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Extract

The struggle of Nigerian civil society for the establishment of a democratic polity, founded on the rule of law and the respect for the human and peoples’ rights of ordinary citizens of Nigeria, has been waged against the military governments that have ruled by force for the better part of its nearly three and a half decades of independent existence. During this struggle, there have been many cases of seizure of the passports of prominent opposition activists by members of the security agencies of the government. Such acts have generated much international condemnation of the government, as well as some judicial disapproval.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 See also s. 76 of the 1960 Constitution of Nigeria; s. 27 of the 1963 Republican Constitution of Nigeria and s. 40 of the defunct 1989 Constitution of Nigeria. All these provisions are similar.

2 See the Preamble to the Constitution of Cameroon of 1972.

3 U.N. Doc. A/810/71.

4 6 I.L.M. 368.Google Scholar For a detailed expose on the history and content of relevant international human rights declarations and conventions, see Higgins, R., “Some recent developments in respect of the right to leave in international law”, in Brown, E.D. and Cheng, B. (eds.), Contemporary Problems of International Law: Essays in Honour of Georg Schwarzenberger, London, 1988, at 138;Google Scholar and Hannum, H.The Right to Leave and Return in International Law and Practice, Dordrecht, 1987.Google Scholar

5 21 I.L.M. 59.Google Scholar This treaty was “incorporated” into Nigerian law by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. 10 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.

6 Similar provisions are found in s. 20 of the 1960 Constitution of Nigeria, s. 21 of the 1963 Constitution and s. 34 of the defunct 1989 Constitution.

7 These principles form part of the resolutions of the Judicial Colloquium held at Bangalore, India, in 1988, Developing Human Rights Jurisprudence, London, 1988.Google Scholar Similar resolutions were by subsequent colloquia in Harare (1989), Banjul (1990), Abuja (1991), Balliol (1992) and Blomfontein (1993).

8 See Sperdutti, G., “Dualism and monism: a confrontation to be overcome”, (1977) 3 Italian Y.B.I.L. 31.Google Scholar

9 See Kirby, M., “The Australian use of international human rights norms from Bangalore to Balliol—a view from the Antipodes”, (1992) 18 C.L.B. 1306.Google Scholar

10 See Higgins, , “The relationship between international and regional human rights norms and domestic law”, (1992) 18 C.L.B. 1268.Google Scholar

11 See e.g. Mason, A., “The relationship between international law and national law and its application in national courts”, (1992) 18 C.L.B. 750.Google Scholar

12 See Laski, Harold, A Grammar ofPolities, London, 1967, at 66.Google Scholar

13 Unreported Suit No. M/102/93 of the Lagos High Court.

14 Unreported Suit No. ID/559m/90 of the Lagos High Court. See Odinkalu, , “Muhammed Garuba & Ors v. Lagos State Attorney-General & Ors: a case for municipal application of international human rights norms”, (1991) 1 J.H.R.L.P. 125.Google Scholar

15 (1986) 1 N.W.L.R. (PT. 14) 113.Google Scholar

16 (1990) 7 N.W.L.R. (PT. 163) 507.Google Scholar

17 [1992] LRC (Const) 623, per Aguda, J.A., at 663.Google Scholar

18 (1987) 2 Uniform Law Review Biannual 669.Google Scholar

19 See Lauterpacht, H., “Implementation of decisions of international organizations through national courts”, in Schwebel, (ed.), The Effectiveness of International Decisions, Leyden, 1971, at 65Google Scholar

20 (1963) 139 N.Y.S.C. (26) 872.Google Scholar

21 (1972) NJ. No. 192.

22 (1974) NJ. No. 229.

23 See also s. 30 of the 1960 Constitution, s. 31 of the 1963 Constitution and s. 42 of the 1989 Constitution.

24 See O'Connell, D.P., International Law, London, 1970, at 691Google Scholar; and Goodwin-Gill, G.S., International Law and the Movement of Persons Between States, Oxford, 1978.Google Scholar See also Joyce v. DPP [1946] A.C. 347Google Scholar and R. v. Brailsford and Anor [1905] 2 K.B. 730.Google Scholar

25 See Nylander, A., The Nationality and Citizenship Laws of Nigeria, Lagos, 1973, at 81.Google Scholar

26 [1984] A.C. 680, 700.

27 See Okere, B.O., “Judicial activism or passivity in interpreting the Nigerian Constitution”, (1987) 361 I.C.L.O. 789.Google Scholar

28 See Bagwati, P., “The role of the judiciary in the democratic process: balancing activities and judicial restraint”, (1992) 18 C.L.B. 1262.Google Scholar

29 See Nweze, C.C., “Judicial attitude to constitutional guarantee of human rights in Nigeria—a critique”, paper presented at the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, June 1994.Google Scholar

30 See Shugaba Darman v. Minister for Internal Affairs (1981) N.C.L.R. 25.

31 See Brownlie, I., Principles of Public International Law, Oxford, 1979, at 557.Google Scholar

32 See Arkelian, A.J., “The right to a passport in Canadian law”, (1983) 21 Can. Y.B. Int'l L. 284.Google Scholar

33 (1981) 1 N.C.L.R. 25.Google Scholar

34 (1967) AIR C.S.C. 1836.

35 (1967) 3 S.C.R. 525.Google Scholar

36 (1958) 2 L. Ed. (2d) 1204Google Scholar or (1957) 357 U.S. 116.Google Scholar

37 (1964) 12 L. Ed. (2d) 992.Google Scholar

38 (1964) 38 U.S. 1.Google Scholar

39 See Triska, J.F., Constitutions of the Communist Party States, Stanford, 1968.Google Scholar

40 This Charter has been described by Lord Bracton as a Carta Libertatum. See Sen, P., A Comparative Study of the Indian Constitution, Vol. II, Bombay, 1966, at 123.Google Scholar

41 See Lancy, R., “The evolution of Australian passport law”, (1982) 13 M.U.L.R. 428, 429.Google Scholar

42 See Halsbury Laws of England, 3rd ed., London, 1954, at para. 18 and footnote (a).Google Scholar

43 [1989] 1 All E.R. 655, per O'Connor, , Nicholls, and Taylor, L.JJ. But see s. 6 o f the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Google Scholar

44 [1905] 2 K.B. 730, 745.Google Scholar

45 Unreported Suit No. CA/L/225/92 of 6 July, 1994.

46 4 L. Ed. 97.Google Scholar

47 See Arkelian, , above n. 32, at 284.Google Scholar

48 Ibid., 285.

49 See Binavince, E.S., “The impact of the mobility rights: the Canadian Economic Union—a boom or a bust?” (1982) 14 Ottawa L. Rev. 340.Google Scholar

50 See Ajomo, A., “Human rights under the Nigerian Constitutions”, in Osinbajo, Y. and Kalu, A. (eds.), Democracy and the Law, Lagos, 1991, at 123.Google Scholar

51 Above, n. 45.

52 For discussions of the U.S. position, see Ansbacher, R., “Passport revocation: balancing constitutional freedoms with national security concerns”, (1981) 33 University of Florida L. Rev. 428Google Scholar; Capassakis, E., “Passport revocations or denials on grounds of national security and foreign policy”, (1981) 49 Fordham L. Rev. 1178Google Scholar; and Kaplan, S., “The CIA responds to its black sheep: censorship and passport revocation—the cases of Philip Agee”, (1981) 13 Conn. L. Rev. 317.Google Scholar