-
A Critical Apprisal Of Legitimacy And Legitimation Under Nigerian Family Law
CHAPTER FOUR -- [Total Page(s) 5]
Page 4 of 5
-
-
-
4. Education
The policy of government of all states in the federation of Nigeria is to provide free primary education to all children of school age, however there is no requirement of compulsory attendance as is the case in other parts of the world, in some states, the appropriate legislation merely require parents to ensure the education of the children of primary school age without providing a sanction, for instance section 32 of Lagos State Education law states that It shall be the duty of the parents of every child of primary school age to cause him to receive efficient full time education suitable to his age and aptitude either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
The same law also recognizes the importance of the wishes of parents in a state educational system by prescribing that;
The state commissioner and local education authorities shall have regard to the general principle that every pupil shall be educated in accordance with the wishes of his parent, and in accordance with his age and aptitude. Other states, however, have recently made school registration and attendance compulsory at the primary level. For instance Section 23(1) of the Bornu State Education. Edict, 1985 provides that;
The parent or guardian of a child who has attained the age of six years shall do all in his power to ensure that the child is enrolled, that the child attends at such school in accordance with the directions of the headmaster or head teacher, thereof until such child has completed the primary school course.
Any parent or guardian who contravenes the above provision commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction for the first offence to a fine not exceeding fifty naira, or to imprisonment not exceeding three months, for each subsequent offence the parent or guardian shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred naira or to imprisonment for not more than six months, or to both.
The Niger state compulsory registration of children into primary school edict 1985, required a village head to cause every parent or guardian in his area of authority to register every child of school age ,as a pupil in any primary school in the state, the failure of a parent or guardian to comply with his obligation constitutes an offence punishable with a fine, although the legislation in Niger state dealt expressly with the compulsory registration of children at school, it seems reasonable to imply that the obligation created therein includes the compulsory attendance of registered children at school. The purpose of making registration mandatory must be to ensure the attendance of children at state schools, otherwise the object of the registration will be merely for the census of school children which does not reflect the intention of the authors of the legislation, in this light, the law in Niger state would have the same import as its counterpart in Borno state.
The Edict confers summary jurisdiction on every magistrate court or area court judge of any grade in the state for the summary trial of an offender under the enactment At common law the parent of a child is not responsible for its criminal acts unless he acted also as a principal or accessory, but the children and young person’s act has imposed such responsibility on a parent where the child’s act is due to the failure of the parent to make adequate arrangement for its proper upbringing. If a juvenile court imposes a fine, damages or cost in respect of an offence committed by a young person under the age of seventeen years, it may, and in the case of a child under fourteen years of age, it must, order that these should be paid by the parent or guardian of the child or young person. Moreover where the child or young person is charged with any offence, the court may order its parents or guardian to give security for his god behaviour.
A parent is not liable for the contractual obligations of his child, but the parent may become liable if he constitutes the child his agent or subsequently ratifies the agreement.
As with contracts, a parent is not liable for the tortuous acts of his child, the of a parent may however arise, where there is a master and servant relationship, in that case, the parent will be vicariously liable for the tort of his child committed in the cause of his employment.
Another instance of parental liability occurs where the parent is negligent in exerting proper care and control over his child, if that results in a tortuous act by the child against a third party, the parent will be liable, the application of this principle can be seen in two of the decided cases in Bebee V Sailes88 the defendants gave his son aged fifteen years an air- gun as a present, the son while shooting at a mill, broke a window in the building, as a result of a complaint received from the mill owner the defendant promised to smash the air – gun but did not do so, later the defendant’s son, while playing with another boy, shot him in the eye, in an action for negligence against the defendant, it was held that he was negligent in allowing the boy to use the gun after receiving complaint from the mill – owner.
CHAPTER FOUR -- [Total Page(s) 5]
Page 4 of 5
-
-
ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This long essay is concerned with the concept of legitimacy, which is an important concept, as it determines the status of a child in relation to the society, while a legitimate child is conferred with the rights and duties of a legitimate child, which includes right to maintenance, succession among other rights, an illegitimate child is denied of these right by virtue of the fact of his illegitimate birth and he remain so, until and unless he is legitimated either by the subsequent marriage of ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF CONTENTS - [ Total Page(s): 5 ]TABLE OF CASESNIGERIAAbisogun v.Abisogun(1963)1 ALL NLR 237 Akerele v.Balogun(1994)LLR 99 at 101Alake v.Pratt (1955)15 WACA 20Amachire v.Goodhead (1923)4 NLRCole v.Akinyele(1960)5 FSCEgwunmoke v.Egwunwoke NMLR147Ezekiel v.Alabi(1942)2 ALL NLR 43Lawal v.Younam(1961)WNLR 197Mariyama v.Sadiku ejo (1961) NRNLR 81Olarewaju v.Governor of oyo state NSCC Pt.111 389 at 400Onwudinjo v.Onwudinjo(1957)11 ERNLR 1Owuna v.Ogbodo suit no MD/51A/1975 unreported high Court Markurdi,October 26 1976Philip v.Philip ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF STATUTES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]TABLE OF STATUTESNIGERIA• CAP 111, the revised edition Laws of Lagos state of Nigeria, Edict 1998• Constitution of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria 1999 • Evidence Act CAP 62 Laws of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria 1959 • Federal Republic Of Nigeria Official Gazzette Act No 20,2003,Volume 90• High Court of Lagos act • Matrimonial Causes act 1970 • Legitimacy Act 1929 CAP 519 Laws Of the Federation Of Nigeria ... Continue reading---
LIST OF ABRIVATIONS - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF ABRIVATIONS ALL ER All England Law ReportALL NLR All Nigerian Law ReportCH.D Chancery DivisionENLR Eastern Nigerian Law ReportERNLR Eastern Nigerian Law ReportFSC Federal Supreme CourtL F N Laws of the federationLLR Lagos Law ReportLR Law ReportM&W Meeson &WelsbyNLR Nigerian Law ReportNMLR Nigerian Law ReportNRNLR Northern Region of Nigerian Law ReportNSCC Nigerian Surpreme Court CasesP Probate Divi ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 5 ]Cheshire and North in their book29 sees legitimacy as the status acquired by a person who is born in lawful wedlock. Black Law dictionary30 defines it as a lawful birth; the condition of being born in wedlock; the opposite of illegitimacy or bastardy. Osborne concise law dictionary31 defines it as the condition or being born in lawful wedlock.• IllegitimacyIt is a condition that exists before the law or the social status of a child born out of wedlock. It can also be said to be the c ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER TWO - [ Total Page(s): 5 ]A similar provision in Nigerian law, is submitted will go a long way to alleviate the hardships of a void marriage. A void marriage is one that is considered never to have taken place, no matter the procedure that have been taken by the people concerned, they are just not married because they have not complied with the rules of the place of the celebration of marriage.The Matrimonial Causes Act 1970 states that a marriage is void if the partners are related in a forbidden degree for example, a m ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 6 ]CHAPTER 3LEGITIMATION3.0.0 INTRODUCTIONLegitimation is the process by which a child who has not been born legitimate acquires a legitimate status, the process of legitimation may be achieved by the subsequent marriage of the parents of the child, or acknowledgement by its natural father, that is the recognition of paternity by its natural father. The term ‘legitimation’ presupposed that the child was not legitimate at birth; it is therefore the process whereby such a child can acqui ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FIVE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]CHAPTER 5GENERAL CONCLUSION5.1.0: CONCLUSIONThe concept of legitimacy, illegitimacy, and legitimation which are the primary concern of this work, has been fully discussed, the importance of a legitimate status can be clearly seen in the area of succession, and it is also evident from the social stigma melted on the illegitimate child by both the society and religious bodies and institutions. Having discussed the concept of legitimacy itself which refers to the status of a child born in lawful we ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]BIBLIOGRAPHY ARTICLES IN JOURNALSAlhaji Aliu Alarape Salmon (SAN) Legitimacy and Illegitimacy; Nigerian experience,third edition; The jurist journal of the law student society Unilorin 1996/1997Professor Sagay legitimacy and the right of inheritance in Nigerian Comtempoary Law, Published in the journal of the private and property law department, Unilag April 1992/1993Davis K illegitimacy and social structure American Journal of sociology 1939,45Reports of the constitution drafting commission vol ... Continue reading---
