TYPES OF LAW

Laws in the widest possible connotations are any necessary relation arising from a things’ nature.
In this sense, all beings have their laws: the deity his laws, the material world, its laws, the
intelligences superior to man, his laws, the beasts, their laws, man, his laws. Since the use of the
word “law” is so diverse, it is necessary to consider further the various types of law in order to
deepen our knowledge of the nature of law within the context of our study. Laws are categorized
into the following:

i. Eternal law
ii. Divine Law
iii. Natural law
iv. Human or positive law

Eternal Law

The word eternal is derived from eternity. It literally means something that has always existed,
has never changed and will always exist. Hence, eternal laws are laws that are constant,
everlasting and universal. For instance, the laws of gravity, floatation and motion are the same all
over the world since the time of the pre-historic cave man up till the present time. It is doubtful if
any man-made law exists that fits the above definition of eternal law. This is because law is
certainly not the same everywhere; it reflects different values in different cultures and different
epochs.

Divine law

Divine law is based on the premise that man is incapable of making a valid and just law because
he is sinful by nature. Hence, man must turn to God, who is the governing authority of the
universe for perfect law. Since God no longer physically hands over law to man as he was
reported to have done for Moses in the bible, the early Christians believed that the Pope was the
only ultimate representative of God on earth vested with authority to expound and interpret
divine revelations. The laws so interpreted and expounded were enacted into Papal decrees and
binding throughout the Roman Empire.
Natural Law

Law of nature has been given different meanings. Some writers say it is that which accounts for
the behaviour of creatures generally, whether human beings, animals and plants. For instance,
plants under given circumstances behave in a particular way and it is the law of nature which
makes us sleep, laugh and angry.

Human or positive law

Positive Law means the same thing as human law. This is in contradiction to the type of law
earlier considered, that is eternal, divine and natural law. Law within the context of divine,
eternal and natural law as earlier noted is a far cry from what obtains in the society. It is perhaps
this observation that led the positivist school of jurisprudence to say that nothing is law except
the one laid by the sovereign or his agent.

THEORIES OF LAW

In order to satisfactorily answer the question “what is law?” One must therefore delve into
jurisprudence. Jurisprudence is the study of legal philosophy. In as much as philosophy consists
of one’s belief about something or thoughts, the question as to what law is all about, is provided
by examining different beliefs of prominent scholars to ascertain what they have deemed is law.
Thus, the various beliefs have come to be known as theories or philosophies of Law, or School
of Jurisprudence.

The natural law school

The central thesis of this School of thought is that law has a divine or supernatural origin and that
for human laws to be legally valid, they must conform to certain objective moral principles based
on the nature of man and the dictates of reason. It was precisely based on the divine right theory,
the prevailing belief at that time that man was totally subject to the will of God and incapable of
making the right law to shape his world.

However, the main problem, which confronted the natural law thinkers, was how to check the
absolute power and its abuse by heavy-handed monarchs. Thus, the natural law school offers a
convenient basis or starting point for the development of the concept of fundamental (natural)
rights, equality, human rights, democracy and the rules of natural justice the world over.

The Historical School

This theory was developed to counter the widespread influence of the natural law school in the
seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe in overthrowing the Monarchs and creating
egalitarian societies. Thus, the historical school viewed law as an outgrowth from the history of
the society rather than an artificial contrivance. The denial of artificiality is an aspect, which it
shares with the natural law school. According to the historical school, there is what is called, “a
spirit of the people binds the people of a particular society together and distinguishes them from
any other people”. Accordingly, before a law is made for a society, there must be a good
understanding of the history of the people.

Diametrically opposed to the natural and historical schools is the positivist school, which denies
the upward growth of law from the society. The positivists posited that nothing is law except the
one laid by the sovereign or his agents. The agents of the sovereign, permitted to make law
according to this school, are the legislators and judges. Therefore, laws are those made by the
sovereign or through his agents by Statutes or Case laws. They believe that laws are not ethics,
religious or moral rules unless they are enacted into law.

The Realist School

The greatest advocate of the Realist School was Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes of the United
States Supreme Court. He saw law as an expression of the State through the courts, which in
essence, occupy the position of the sovereign. However, he emphasized the element of
uncertainty in law and the role of judges in the law-making process. In order to know the law, he
argued, one must look, not into Statute books, but up to the courts. Therefore, this theory was
mainly focused on the court system particularly trial courts.

CLASSIFICATION OF LAW

Law can be divided into different branches such as Law of Contract, Company Law, Labour
Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, etc. Within each subject classification you will find a
body of rules and principles, which have been developed over the years on a particular aspect of
law. The evolution and nature of subject sometimes differ significantly from one another. While
some subjects such as law of contract have very old origin, others such as Human Rights,
environmental law and labour are purely Statutory in nature. It is important to note here that
there is no single universal mode of classifying law, but law can be classified in multifarious
ways.

Civil Law and Criminal Law

Civil Law is primarily concerned with competing private interests and obligations and abounds
mostly in our unwritten or judge-made laws. It is often invoked by private persons, although the
State or its organs may, in appropriate cases, initiate or defend such actions as juristic persons.
Civil actions are commenced in accordance with the relevant rules of civil procedure, the object
being to obtain relief either by way of damages or injunction. Thus, civil law has several
meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In this context, it means the law, which
defines the rights and duties of persons to one another and provides a system whereby an
individual who is injured by the wrongful act of another can be compensated for the damage,
which he has suffered. Examples of civil laws are law of contract, torts, land law, family law.
Conversely, 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 conducts to exist or continue. Punishment is imposed generally by means of imprisonment
or fine or both. Thus, the main object of criminal law is to punish wrong doers thereby seeking to
protect the collect interests of the citizenry against the detrimental conduct of its constituent
members

Substantive law and Procedural

Law Substantive law comprises the rules of law and those legal principles that define the
existence and extent of a right or liability in a particular branch of law. It is concerned with the
creation, definition and limitation of obligations. However, in relation to legal proceedings law
can be broadly divided into substantive law and adjectival law. Substantive law embraces such
subjects like Law of Contract, Torts, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, etc. which are
concerned with statement of rights, duties and liabilities of individuals. On the other hand,
Procedural Law involves the rules by which an action may be brought and disposed of. It
prescribes the method for enforcing the rights and duties and obtaining redress for wrongful
invasion of those rights as well as the enforcement of obligations or duties. Thus, as the name
implies, it deals with the methods of initiating proceedings to enforce a certain right or duty and
how the litigation or prosecution is conducted.

Written Law and Unwritten Law

Law may either be written or unwritten. The word written here has a technical meaning. It means
a rule of law that has been formally enacted into a Legislation or Statute by the legislatures. Such
laws before their enactment are usually subjected to rigorous debates and serious scrutiny
through several stages before they are enacted and signed into law by the Chief Executive of the
State. The unwritten law could be explained from two different perspectives. Firstly, it may
mean any principle or rule of behaviour that is not written down at all as in the case of
Customary Law and Conventions. Secondly, it could also mean any un-enacted law even if the
principles are reduced into writing as in Case laws.

Municipal Law and International Law

The classification of laws into Municipal and International underscores the territorial limitation
of laws. Usually, the laws of a sovereign State do not operate outside its boundaries. So,
municipal laws are such laws emanating from a particular country and having the force of law
within its territory.

International law, on the other hand, is the law that binds respective States and regulates their
mutual co-existence and relationship. The sources of international law include international
customary practices, Treaties, Bilateral agreements and Conventions. While individuals or
juristic persons are the main subjects of municipal laws, international law deals primarily with
States.

NIGERIAN LEGAL SYSTEM