CRITICALLY ANALYSIS OF CORROBORATION UNDER THE NIGERIAN LAW OF EVIDENCE

CRITICALLY ANALYSIS OF CORROBORATION UNDER THE NIGERIAN LAW OF EVIDENCE

ABSTRACT 

There is no law that says the plaintiff or the prosecution must bring a million witnesses or  evidence to court before he can succeed in his case. A court can convict on a single witness. A  case is not decided by the numbers of witnesses, single credible convincing evidence is enough  to convict in a case but there are some exceptions”. The exceptions refer to by this learned mean  the circumstances where corroboration will be required before any judge can decide his case. Although a judge can convict upon the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice but he must  warn himself before given such conviction in fact he is advised to seek corroborating evidence  before convicting an accused because failure to do so can lead to the setting  aside of his  judgment on appeal. Generally, corroboration cuts a niche for itself, it is used both in criminal and civil cases. It will  also state the position of judges on the issue of corroboration and various decisions of court on  different issues arising from corroboration. In law, corroboration, though popular yet  controversial virtually under all legal system this is due to the influence and interpretation of the  provisions of the Evidence Act and the criminal and penal codes (on corroboration of evidence)  by judges. The desirability of corroboration as a requirement in certain criminal and civil cases  under the Nigerian law of evidence and the hope of examine it critically under our legal system  is the core focus of this study. This work will therefore elucidate the meaning of corroboration in  Nigeria and Canada generally, the role of judges in deciding both civil and criminal cases and  various statutory  provisions in respect of corroboration  of evidence in Nigeria relying largely  on both primary and secondary  source of law of evidence in Nigeria.

TABLE OF CONTENTS  

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CASES

TABLE OF STATUTES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0.0:  INTRODUCTION

1.1.0:  BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.2.0:  OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

1.3.0:  FOCUS OF STUDY

1.4.0   SCOPE OF STUDY

1.5.0:  METHODOLOGY

1.6.0:  LITERATURE REVIEW

1.7.0:  CONCLUSION

CHAPTER TWO

PRINCIPLE OF CORROBORATION

2.0.0:  INTRODUCTION

2.1.0:  HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CORROBORATION IN NIGERIA

2.2.0:  MEANING / DEFINITION

2.3.0:  NATURE OF CORROBORATION

2.4.0    EVIDENCE REQUIRING CORROBORATION

2.5.0:  CONCLUSION

CHAPTER THREE

RULES OF CORROBORATION

3.0.0: INTRODUCTION

3.1.0:  FORMS OF CORROBORATION

3.1.1.0: AS A MATTER OF LAW

3.1.1.1: AS A MATTER OF PRACTISE

3.2.0:   TYPES OF CORROBORATION

3.2.1.0: MUTUAL CORROBORATION

CHAPTER FOUR

RULES OF CORROBORATION

3.0.0: INTRODUCTION

3.1.0:  FORMS OF CORROBORATION

3.1.1.0: AS A MATTER OF LAW

3.1.1.1: AS A MATTER OF PRACTISE

3.2.0:   TYPES OF CORROBORATION

3.2.1.0: MUTUAL CORROBORATION

3.2.1.1: CUMMULATIVE CORROBORATION

3.2.1.2: IDENTIFICATION CASES AND CORROBORATION

3.3.0: CORROBORATION UNDER THE COMMON LAW

3.4.0:  CONCLUSION

CHAPTER FIVE

INCIDENCES OF CORROBORATION.

4.0.0: INTRODUCTION

4.1.0: CORROBORATION IN CIVIL CASES

4.2.0:  CORROBORATION IN CRIMINAL CASES

4.3.0:  ROLES OF JUDGES AND JURY IN CORROBORATION

4.4.0:  PROBLEMS OF CORROBORATION

4.5.0:  SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS

4.6.0:  CONCLUSION

CHAPTER SIX

GENERAL CONCLUSION

5.0.0: CONCLUSION

5.1.0: RECOMMENDATION

BIBLIOGRAPHY