List of Law Reports In Nigeria: Law reporting is a very essential part of the legal system of every country. Without law reports, the principle of judicial precedence cannot be effective. Accordingly, there will not be consistency in the law since there is nothing to remind the administrators of justice; their past decisions, reasoning and judgments.
This has been corroborated by Duhaime when it stated that the aim of a law report is to distribute to lawyers and judges, judgments of the courts to widen the base of legal knowledge and to prevent two differing decisions on identical facts, or two differing legal theories on a same issue.
Apparently, there are about 20 known law reports in Nigeria today. Some of them are direct publications of various courts in Nigeria, while some are owned by private organizations. I have found that Nigerians are searching for a list of all the law reports in Nigeria and that is why i made this post. In this work, i will make a list of some of the known law reports in Nigeria with their abbreviations. So, if you have been searching for the law reports in Nigeria, this is the right post for you.
List of Law Reports in Nigeria with Abbreviation
Below is a list of some of the law reports in Nigeria with their abbreviation:
- Nigerian Law Reports (NLR)
- Federal Supreme Court Reports (FSC)
- All Nigerian Law Reports (All NLR)
- Nigerian Monthly Law Report (NMLR)
- University of Ife Law Report (UILR)
- Nigerian Weekly Law Report (NWLR)
- Law Pavillion Electronic Law Report (LPELR)
- All Electronic Law Reports (AELR)
- Supreme Court of Nigeria Judgement (SCJN)
- Western Region of Nigeria Law Reports (WRNLR)
- Eastern Region of Nigeria Law Report (ERNLR)
- Northern Nigeria Law Report (NRNLR)
- Midwestern Nigeria Law Report (MWNLR)
- Nigerian Supreme Court Cases (NSCC)
There you have some of the most reliable law reports in Nigeria with their abbreviations. Just like I said before, some of these law reports are owned by the government while some are owned by private organizations. If you need more details about these law reports, i enjoin you to continue reading below.
Nigerian Law Reports
Abbreviation: NLR
Owned by: Government
Nigerian Law Reports (NLR) is probably the first law report in Nigeria. It commenced publications in 1916 and reported cases of the former Supreme Court together with a few cases on appeal to the Privy Council from Nigerian Courts. The Nigerian Law Reports (NLR) covered the period 1881 – 1955. It consist of 21 volumes and index.
Federal Supreme Court Reports
Abbreviation: FSC
Owned by: Government
The Federal Supreme Court Reports (F.S.C) is apparently a government owned law report in Nigeria. Their series is in 5 volumes covering 1956 – 1960 and contains decisions of the then Federal Supreme Court. It is cited as “1 F.S.C” for Volume 1 of the report.
All Nigerian Law Reports
Abbreviation: All NLR
Owned by: Government
The All Nigerian Law Reports (All NLR) started its activities in 1961 but was abandoned in the 1970s. This publication contains reports of the federal Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1961 to 1963 and the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1963 to 1990 and that of High Courts. A.N.L.R also report cases of the Court of Appeal and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Nigerian Monthly Law Report
Abbreviation: NMLR
Owned by: Private
The Nigerian Monthly Law Report (NMLR) was the first private owned law report in Nigeria. It is owned by Associated Publishers (Nig) Limited. N.M.L.R first made its publication in 1964 but stopped in in the 1970s. Research shows that N.M.L.R contains decisions of the various High Courts, the Court of Appeal of the Western State of the Supreme Courts of Nigeria.
University of Ife Law Report (UILR)
Abbreviation: UILR
Owned by: University of Ife
The University of Ife Law Report (UILR) started in 1971. It is the first University Law Report in Nigeria. UILR contains reports of the cases decided by the Supreme Court, the Western Court of Appeal and the High Courts. UILR stopped its publication after 1977 for some unknown reasons.
Nigerian Weekly Law Report
Abbreviation: NWLR
Owned by: Private
The Nigerian Weekly Law Report (NWLR) is the most reliable and reputable law report in Nigeria. It has been published since 1985. This series by far the most consistent and popular law report available in Nigeria today. It is published by Nigeria Law Publications Ltd and a new issue is published every week. NWLR contains cases decided by the Supreme Court of Nigeria and some Court of Appeal judgments. To read more about the Nigerian Weekly Law Report,
Law Pavillion Electronic Law Report
Abbreviation: LPELR
Owned by: Private
Law Pavillion Electronic Law Report is currently the best Electronic law report in Nigeria. Over the years, Law Pavillion Electronic Law Report has earned itself so much prestige and trust from lawyers, judges and legal scholars in Nigeria.
Currently, most Judges in Nigeria allow lawyers to cite Law Pavillion Electronic Law Report during court proceedings. Accordingly, some law lecturers in Nigerian universities also advise their students to use Law Pavillion Electronic Law Report. This explains how significant the law report is in Nigeria.
All Electronic Law Reports
Abbreviation: AELR
Owned: Private
No doubt, the All Electronic Law Reports (AELR) is another popular law report in Nigeria. It is owned by Bscholarly, one of the Biggest Legal Resource Centers in Africa. All Electronic Law Reports publishes cases from the courts of record in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
Following its establishment in Nigeria, AELR published about 100 significant legal cases on different areas of the Nigerian law. This went a long way to boost the popularity of the publication. With the rapid growth of this law report, i strongly believe it will become the best in Nigeria very soon.
Also read: Become a successful lawyer in Nigeria: See how
Supreme Court of Nigeria Judgement
Abbreviation: SCJN
Owned by: private
The Supreme Court of Nigeria Judgement (SCJN) is also a well known private law report in Nigeria. This publication has been active since 1991. It was established by Liberty Publications Ltd to deal exclusively with Supreme Court of Nigeria Judgments on monthly basis.
Western Region of Nigeria Law Reports
Abbreviation: WRNLR
The Western Region of Nigeria Law Report (WRNLR) is one of the law reports that is bent on publishing the judgments of the High Court of Western Nigeria and some decisions from the High Courts to the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court on Nigeria.
Eastern Region of Nigeria Law Report
Abbreviation: ERNLR
Just like the Western Region of Nigeria Law Reports (WRNLR) the Eastern Region of Nigeria Law Report (ERNLR) is the law report that is bent on reporting Judgments of the High Court of the Eastern States and Judgments on appeal from those courts.
Northern Nigeria Law Report
Abbreviation: NRNLR
The Northern Nigeria Law Report and the Northern Nigeria Law Reports played the same role for Northern Nigeria. It reported judgement of the High Courts of the Northern States and Judgements on appeal from Northern states.
Midwestern Nigeria Law Report
Abbreviation: MWNLR
Midwestern Nigeria Law Report (MWNLR) played the same role as the Northern Nigeria Law Report (NRNLR), Eastern Region of Nigeria Law Report (ERNLR) and the Western Region of Nigeria Law Report (WRNLR). It contains cases of the High Court of Midwestern region of Nigeria and some decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
Nigerian Supreme Court Cases
Abbreviation: NSCC
Owned by: Private
Research shows that Nigerian Supreme Court Cases (NSCC) stated its activities in 1956. It is one of the law reports that is bent on publishing only Supreme Court Of Nigeria Cases.
Yeah! There you have some of the the known law reports in Nigeria. Just like I already stated, these are not the only law reports in Nigeria. However, over the years the law reports mentioned in this article have been the most used and accepted law reporting companies in Nigeria. For instance, if you mention the Nigerian Weekly Law Report in a Nigerian court, the judge will listen carefully to you. That is to say that the Nigerian Weekly Law Report is well respected in Nigeria.
