Abstract
The relationship between law and politics are sometimes taken for granted. In Nigeria during the period under study, law and particularly the courts largely underlie the arena in which politics were played. Indeed, legal decisions more or less were determined by political considerations than the legal interpretations and guidance. A survey of extant literature and documents on the subject was adopted to examine the relation of the organisation of the judiciary to the policy problems of political order and economic development. The study assumed and confirmed that the politics of establishing the sovereignty of a particular interest group resulted in: (i) the emergence of conflict between the British authority on the one hand and the Nigerian interest group on the other; (ii) the conflict between and within the Nigerian interest groups for the control of political power, by overthrowing the British political class necessitated the intervention of the Colonial Authorities; and, (iii) the assumption of political power by collaborating group brought into view two responsibilities, namely: (a) the replacement of the British political elites, using the inherited colonial institutions for the maintenance of political control; and, (b) the usage of the inherited colonial institutions to develop some sort of ESPIRIT DE CORP among the emergent comprador bourgeoisie. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2084
Highlights
The study of law and politics has been of great interest to scholars primarily because of its impact on the body politics or the political system per se
This study examines the relation of the organisation of the judiciary to the policy problems of political order and economic development of Nigeria
It stood to reason that the problem of political order become paramount
Summary
The study of law and politics has been of great interest to scholars primarily because of its impact on the body politics or the political system per se. Herman Pritchett et al (1941), Kenneth Vines (1970), Walter Murphy (1966), and Glendon Schubert (1965) have contributed substantially to the study of the courts in politics (cited in Becker, 1970) These scholars went beyond the purely legalistic case study analysis and the legal structural descriptive methodology of the earlier scholars. This interest by the political scientist toward a more generally acceptable theory of judicial politics could be explained by the closely-knit nature of law and politics. Political scientists have sought more and more to develop an approach to the judicial process which would give activities of the Courts new meaning by placing them within the mainstream of political relationship (1961, p vii) These scholars sought within that framework to relate the functions of the judiciary to the concept of courts. Despite all the efforts by these scholars, the major motive by the political scientist in his study of law and politics is, to clearly identify the factors that motivate the establishment of a legal system in any political unit
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