Enforcement of Fundamental Rights in National Constitutions: Resolving the Conflict of Jurisdiction between the Federal High Court and State High Court in Nigeria

Abstract

Fundamental human rights are those natural or human rights that are guaranteed to individuals as a citizen of a free and civilized state. They are incorporated in the supreme or basic law of a country as fundamental human rights. This paper examines the conflict of jurisdictions between the federal high court and the state high courts in the enforcement of fundamental human rights with particular emphasis on how the Nigerian case law has contributed to the confusion. To resolve the issue, the paper surveyed the position of enforcement of fundamental human rights in few other common law jurisdictions such as India, Pakistan and Ghana, and concluded that in Nigeria, the federal high court only has jurisdiction to enforce fundamental human rights arising from a cause of action that falls within its limited exclusive jurisdiction.