How To Draft Valid Arbitration Agreements: Essential Provisions | Oluwatoyin Bamidele Oni

by Legalnaija | Apr 20, 2023 | Uncategorized

Arbitral proceedings are expressions of the will of the parties of which party autonomy is consciously guarded. The existence of an arbitration agreement is essential as it indicates the parties’ consent to settle their dispute by arbitration.

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act (ACA) gives no express definition to the term “Arbitration Agreement” but it describes the form of the agreement which is why parties must take extra precautions when executing an arbitration agreement (either as a standalone agreement or as part of another commercial agreement).

By virtue of Section 1(2) of the ACA, an Arbitration Agreement must be in writing and contained in a document signed by the parties or in an exchange of letters, telex, telegram, or other means of communication which provide a record of arbitration agreement, or in any other documents in which the existence of an arbitration agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by another.

Therefore, the way and manner an arbitration agreement/clause is drafted Is very crucial to the commercial relationship between the parties. It is pertinent to note that Arbitral Tribunals have been advised to refuse to conduct arbitration proceedings where the Arbitral clause is ambiguous.

When drafting Arbitration clauses, both the drafters and the parties are advised to state their intent in clear terms devoid of ambiguity and obscurity. To draft a valid Arbitration clause/agreement, the parties must first agree on the following fundamental terms:

1. Scope of the Arbitration Agreement:

Parties must agree on the types of disputes that can be referred to arbitration under the agreement. A poorly drafted scope may deprive the tribunal of jurisdiction over all or part of the disputes. It is advisable to refer all disputes to Arbitration. Although parties are at liberty to refer only specific contract claims to arbitration, they may also expand the scope to include all disputes related to the contract, including non-contractual claims. In expressing this scope, Parties may use terms like “all disputes arising out of the contract”, “all disputes in connection or related to the contract”, or “all disputes arising under the contract”.

2. Parties:

The parties to the Arbitration Agreement should be clearly stated, they should be natural persons or legal entities who are capable of entering into an agreement of this nature and against whom any award will be enforceable.

3. Language of the Arbitration:

This is the language in which all submissions and evidence will be presented during the Arbitral proceedings. The parties should ascertain the language of the proceedings. The language of the arbitration also includes the words, clauses and phrases used in the agreement.  This is important especially where parties are from countries with different first languages.

4. Number and appointment of Arbitrators

Depending on the complexity, technicalities and the nature of the dispute, a Sole Arbitrator or an Arbitral Tribunal should be specified. Appointing a Sole Arbitrator is cost effective but where the dispute is a complex one with high commercial and reputational value, it is advisable to use a tribunal which consists of three arbitrators. When the parties opt for a tribunal, each party would each appoint an arbitrator and the 2 appointed arbitrators will then agree on a third arbitrator who should also be the chairman, where it is difficult to appoint the arbitrators, parties can agree that appointments be made by an appointing authority or body like the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb), LCIA etc.

5. Features or qualifications of the Arbitrator(s)

One of the advantages of Arbitration over litigation is that it allows parties to determine the qualifications, characteristics, and experience that arbitrators should have before they can be qualified for appointment. This include conditions like nationality, industry/sector experience, biases or previous relationships with any of the parties etc. This is not a compulsory requirement and parties should ensure that the category of arbitrators to be appointed is not unduly narrow and unrealistic.

6. Seat of the Arbitration

This refers to the procedural laws of the arbitration. it determines the rights to enforce the arbitral awards and the interim remedies available to the parties. The seat of arbitration has to do with the procedural laws while the venue of arbitration is simply the physical place where the arbitration will take place.

7. Governing law of the Arbitration Agreement

This is important especially for international transactions, the law of the substantive contract may be different from the law governing the arbitration agreement.

8. Choice of rules to govern the Proceedings.

When drafting an arbitration agreement, you may want to adopt the rules of an established arbitral institution, such as NICArb rules or LCIA, to govern the arbitration procedure. This enables the institution to administer the dispute (for a fee) based on its already established rules which is usually fair and impartial.

9. Consolidation and joinder of Arbitral proceedings

This is common in multi-contract arrangements, where different tribunals may be appointed to deal with multiple arbitrations in relation to the same or similar set of facts. Parties should ensure that the arbitration agreements in each interrelated contract allows for consolidation of the various arbitration arising from the same or interrelated contract as non-joinder of this different arbitrations may lead to additional costs, delays, and multiple conflicting decisions.

10. Multi-tiered clauses

This avails the parties the opportunity to explore various stages and types of ADR mechanism before finally exploring arbitration. Parties can attempt settlement of the disputes through other ADR mechanisms like Negotiation, Mediation or Conciliation before finally resorting to arbitration. This should be drafted with clear timelines which can be enforced with or without the active participation of any uninterested party in order not to frustrate the entire process.

Conclusion: Having discussed the various components and essential elements in a valid commercial agreement, I will share general guidelines for drafting all these components and a sample arbitration agreement will be provided in the next episode.

Oluwatoyin Bamidele Oni is a Corporate-Commercial Lawyer and a writer whose works are widely published. He has years of experience both in Arbitration, Project Finance, Infrastructure and PPP, Mergers, and Acquisition.

Oluwatoyin Bamidele Oni is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb), a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administration (ICSAN), a member of Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative (DRLI), a member of The International Organisation of Management Professionals (IOMP), a member of the Intellectual Property Lawyers Association of Nigeria (IPLAN), a member of the Space Law & Arbitration Association (SLAA), and a member of Young International Council for Commercial Arbitration.

Key Highlights Of The Online Pharmacy Regulations, 2021: What You Should Know | Arome Abu

by Legalnaija | Apr 18, 2023 | Uncategorized

Introduction

With the global spread of smartphones and the accessibility to internet connections, it comes as no surprise that pharmacists are beginning to gravitate towards the use of online platform to render pharmaceutical care. The intervention of theHonourable Minister for Health in swiftly providing regulation for online pharmaceutical practice did not also come as a surprise.

What are online Pharmacies?

Online pharmacies refer to the delivery of pharmaceutical care through the instrumentality of electronic or digital platforms such as computers and smartphones to patients in circumstances where they cannot have direct access to a pharmacist or in circumstances where, although, they can access physical pharmacies but opt for the online pharmaceutical option for the convenience and privacy that comes with it.

The regulation is divided into 4 parts to wit: Registration and licensing, Inspection Monitoring and Enforcement, Operation of online Pharmacy and General provisions.

Part I- Registration and licensing

Regulation 1 empowers the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria to register internet based pharmaceutical services, same way it does traditional pharmaceutical entities.

Regulation 2,3 and 4 speaks to licencing requirements.

Regulation 3(2)prescribes that physical address of the online pharmacy must be visible online. This provision presupposes that the regulation contemplates a hybrid form of pharmaceutical practice, by which in addition to online presence, the pharmacy must have physical presence.

Regulation 9 provides that internet based pharmaceutical service must comply with the relevant laws relating to Information and Communication Technology such as the National Information Technology Development Agency Act, the Cyber Crime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act etc.

Part II-Inspection and Monitoring

Regulation 10 provides that prior to issuance of licence, the Council shall carry out inspection of the internet based pharmacyat the physical address that hosts the pharmacy.

Part III-Operation of Online Pharmacy

Regulation 12 provides that every internet based pharmaceutical service provider shall make its site user friendly and interactive for the purpose of:

• Consultancy services to patients and clients;
• Educating patients regarding the medications and disease states;
• Contacting patients regarding delays in delivering prescriptions as well as feedback and recalls; and
• Reporting adverse drug reactions and medication errors.

Regulation 14(2) prohibits the sale of dangerous drugs online.

Regulation 17 provides that internet based pharmaceutical service providers must provide a system for safe and secure delivery of medications and ensure that the right medication is mailed to the patient.

Part IV-General Provisions

Regulation 19(2) provides that the premises and sites of internet based pharmaceutical service providerswill be closed by the council where they fail to obtain the requisite licence.

Regulation 21(5) provides that a pharmacist may only register one (1)internet-based platform at any given time.

Offences and Penalties

Regulation 22(3) prescribes imprisonment for a period not less than 6 months or to fine not less than N250,000.00 or to both as penalty for contravention of the Regulation.

Conclusion

There is no gainsaying that the recognition of online pharmacy is laudable as it enhances access to pharmaceutical care. However, one of the drawbacks is the potential decrease in interaction between pharmacists and patients.

Another shortfall of this regulation is its failure to define the practicality of the operation of online pharmacies. Specifically, it fails to specify if online pharmacies registered under the regulation are designed to operate in the same configuration as telemedicine, whereby the Doctor and patient interact through video conferencing.

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The Football International Window Examined: FIFA’s Balancing Act in Protecting the Interests of Football Clubs and National Teams | Oluwajoba Odefemi 

by Legalnaija | Apr 6, 2023 | Uncategorized

It can be generally agreed that following decades of football evolving from its 19^th century origin days in Britain to the multi-million dollar empire it currently is, club football competitions now dominate the international football calendar. However, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) creates periodic exclusive windows for national football teams to play games via the International Window. This ensures that the relevance of international football between representative teams of national associations, which used to be the Holy Grail of football, is continually preserved.

An International Window is defined as a period of nine days starting on a Monday morning and ending on Tuesday night the following week (subject to temporary exceptions), which is reserved for national teams’ activities.[1] FIFA usually publishes the International Match Calendar for a period of between four and eight years after consultation with the relevant stakeholders. The International Match Calendar will include all International Windows available for the relevant period.

Many football fans will recall the President of the Italian football club S.S.C. Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, throwing a tantrum a few months ago about no longer engaging the services of footballers who represent African nations, in view of the regular clash in calendar between the biennial African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament and important matches of the European Football season.[2] He reiterated his stance by threatening that he would only sign African players who agree to a clause in their contract prohibiting them from participating in the AFCON. However, what many do not know is that this was just an empty threat by the Naples executive, and any Sports Lawyer worth his/her salt would not include such clause in a football services contract. Where such clause is inserted in a contract, it would be null and void.

With international football matches returning to our screens last week for the first time since Argentina won the FIFA World Cup 2022, club football matches were halted about 2-3 days before the first round of international matches kicked off in the midweek of the week beginning on March 20, 2023. This is in line with the provisions of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (“FSTP”), the last edition of which was published and released in October 2022.

The FSTP mandates football clubs to release their registered players to the national team of a country for which the player is eligible to play on the basis of her nationality if they are called up by the association concerned and prohibits any agreement between a player and his club to the contrary.[3] It is observed that in International Window weeks, elite club football matches are not played on Monday night as is usually done in most other weeks. This is because players must be released and start the travel to join their national team no later than Monday morning of the International Window week.[4]

It is mandatory that players be released for all International Windows listed in the International Match Calendar as well as for the final competitions of the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Confederations Cup and each confederation’s periodic “A” grade championships.[5]

On the flip side, to also protect the interests of football clubs who in most cases pay the bulk of wages earned by players, FIFA limits the number of matches that may be played during any international window to a maximum of two matches by each national team (subject to temporary exceptions), irrespective of whether the matches are qualifying matches for an international tournament or friendlies. These matches can be scheduled any day as from Wednesday during the International Window week, provided that a minimum of two full calendar days are left between two matches (e.g. Thursday/Sunday or Saturday/Tuesday).[6]

As a further step to protecting the interests of football clubs, FIFA aims to reduce the total distance travelled by football players during the International Window. Thus, national teams are required to play the two matches within an International Window on the territory of the same confederation, with the only exception being intercontinental play-off matches. Also, if at least one of the two matches is a friendly, they can be played in two different confederations only if the distance between the venues does not exceed a total of five flight hours and two time-zones.[7]

Football clubs are not obliged to release players outside an international window or outside the final competitions included in the international match calendar. Similarly, it is not compulsory to release the same player for more than one “A” representative team final competition per year.[8]

As another means of protecting the interests of football clubs, players must also start the travel back to their club no later than the next Wednesday morning following the end of the international window, subject to temporary exception allowed by FIFA.[9] As regards this particular provision, the clubs and associations concerned may agree a longer period of release or different arrangements.[10] A player resuming duty with their clubs after an International Window must resume no later than 24 hours after the end of the period for which they had to be released, or 48 hours if the national teams’ activities took place in a different confederation to the one in which the player’s club is registered.[11]

Where a player does not resume as stated above, the Players’ Status Chamber of the Football Tribunal may, at the request of the Club:

1. a) issue a fine;
2. b) reduce the affected player’s period of release for the next International Window; or
3. c) ban the association from calling up the player(s) for subsequent national-team activities.[12]

Given the need to protect the economic interests of football clubs in football players while ensuring that international football matches are taken seriously by clubs and players alike, FIFA’s fine balancing act of laying down precise regulations that address the interest of all parties involved is impressive.

[1] Article 1, para 4, Annexe 1, Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, October 2022

[2] https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/napoli-de-laurentiis-african-players-afcon/blt0f8dc87fa7999bd3

[3] Article 1, para 1, Annexe 1, RSTP

[4] Article 1, para 7, Annexe 1, RSTP

[5] Article 1, para 2, Annexe 1, RSTP

[6] Article 1, para 4, Annexe 1, RSTP

[7] Article 1, para 5, Annexe 1, RSTP

[8] Article 1, para 6, Annexe 1, RSTP

[9] Article 1, para 7, Annexe 1, RSTP

[10] Article 1, para 8, Annexe 1, RSTP

[11] Article 1, para 9, Annexe 1, RSTP

[12] Article 1, paras 10 & 11, Annexe 1, RSTP

Great News For Law Firms In Nigeria

by Legalnaija | Mar 7, 2023 | Uncategorized

Great News For Law Firms In Nigeria

We have some amazing news.

Law firms can now register and subscribe to the Legalnaija Directory for lawyers and law firms.

Our Directory is Nigeria’s fastest growing market place for lawyers and law firms looking to establish their reputations and brands. The Directory also allows Users find your law firm through your area of expertise and location.

Take advantage of this amazing opportunity to grow your legal practice. In addition you also get free access to customizable Agreement templates, law books and materials, and a platform to showcase your legal articles, content and expertise.

Don’t loose the opportunity to make your law practice stand out from others and be more accessible to the high number of users searching the internet for legal solutions.

Follow this link to register https://app.legalnaija.com/signup, and if you need to contact support, please mail hello@legalnaija.com

Check out the Directory here https://app.legalnaija.com

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Due Diligence Exercise in Commercial Transactions | Iyanujesu Oguntunji

by Legalnaija | Feb 24, 2023 | Uncategorized

Due Diligence (DD) Exercises (“DD Exercise(s)”) are essential to commercial transactions. The conduct of a DD Exercise is a continuous process right from when a transaction is conceived, discussed with the advisers up to the end of the deal. There are different types of DD which include financial due diligence, tax due diligence, commercial due diligence, technical due diligence, and legal due diligence. The legal due diligence involves reviewing documents that define a party’s ability to fulfil its obligation in a transaction, identify the inherent risks, assess the risks, propose risk management measures to help the transaction bankable. Therefore, a DD Exercise must be factual, analytical, and structured. Often, a DD is adopted in acquisition, investment, and finance transactions.

A DD Exercise could be conducted on the company, shareholders, and assets of the Company. This article summarizes some of the key considerations in conducting a DD Exercise for assets/shares acquisition.  In a DD Exercise, usually, the investor or buyer (the “Acquirer”) interested in buying assets/shares in a target company (the “Target” or “Seller”) is primarily responsible for carrying out a DD exercise.

A DD Exercise would involve a review of documents uploaded to a Virtual Data Room (VDR) and sometimes, physical visits to the offices of applicable regulatory authorities in the transaction. The process of a DD Exercise commences with preparing a DD checklist which lists the necessary information the Acquirer need from the Target or Seller. Upon the upload of the requisite information to the VDR, a Due Diligence Report (“DD Report”), which contains detailed information on the Target, is drawn up. A DD Report sets out, in detail, the necessary information and issues to consider.

The essence of a DD Exercise includes the following:

1. It gives the Acquirer a better understanding of the Target/Seller.
2. It helps professional advisers understand the actual state of affairs of the Target /Seller
3. It helps to identify risks and how to mitigate those risks. Identifying the risks helps in the valuation of the Target/Seller to determine a practical purchase price. The greater the risks, the greater the likely discount to be sought by the Acquirer.
4. It helps to determine the suitable structure for the proposed transaction. .
5. It helps the parties in allocating risks in the representations and warranties.

Notably, the questions in a DD checklist vary depending on whether it is an asset or shares acquisition. Specifically, for an asset acquisition, general questions to be asked during a DD Exercise include the following:

1. Title of the Target in the assets. This helps to determine whether the Target has a valid title to the asset, if the title is subject to a limited duration, or conditions and any encumbrances on the title.
2. Whether there are existing, pending, contingent and threatened litigation(s) concerning the assets;
3. The material contracts concerning the assets (such as the joint operating agreements, gas sale and purchase agreements, and production sharing contracts in the energy and power sector)
4. Regulatory Compliance, licenses, approvals or permits (like environmental permits) required to operate the assets.
5. Third-party approval and consents required to create or transfer any interest in the assets.
6. The physical condition of the assets, where applicable.

For shares acquisition in a company, general questions to be asked during a DD Exercise include the following:

1. General corporate information such as constitutional documents of the Target and details of shareholders and directors.
2. Details of material contracts such as shareholders’ agreements.
3. Finance, Banking facilities and Indebtedness status such as existing charges, mortgages and debentures.
4. Regulatory Compliance, such as licenses, permits and approvals required for the Target operation, has been obtained from the relevant regulatory authorities. Regulatory Compliance also ensures that appropriate filings and returns have been done and the Target has what is statutorily required to operate as a legal entity in the country.
5. Taxation like companies’ income tax
6. Labour and Employment
7. Intellectual Property.
8. Real Estate.
9. Insurance.
10. Material claims and litigation.

As earlier stated, apart from legal DD Exercise, it is not uncommon for DD Exercise to be carried out by other professional advisors like financial and technical advisers. Thus, financial due diligence is carried out to assess the Target’s relevant financial statements, balance sheets, business plans, feasibility studies, and cash flow statements. Financial due diligence helps to prevent a transaction from being a sinkhole at the end of the day. Technical due diligence is also carried out, particularly for energy investment, to assess the proximity of the energy source, the availability of needed machinery and plants, the availability of skilled workforce, the technology used, the civil and electrical design, the status of permits, licenses, and authorizations, visits to operating plants or sites, audits of equipment manufacturers, monitoring of asset construction, among other things.

DD Report

Upon completing the DD Exercise (reviewing all uploaded documents in the VDR, enquiries/visits to the regulatory authorities and noting all necessary information), a DD Report is drafted. A DD report is the finalized report of the meticulous investigation and review process that characterizes the DD Exercise. It is meant to provide an as-is analysis of Target’s assets or the state of affairs of the Target. The DD report will include all necessary facts discovered during the DD Exercise and will proffer solutions to identified issues and how the transaction can be best structured.

A DD report should commence with an executive summary (which contains critical findings of the DD Exercise), and it is followed by succeeding paragraphs addressing each subject matter in the DD exercise (such as title, material contracts, litigations, insurance, intellectual property rights, general corporate matters, taxation).

Notwithstanding how thorough a DD exercise can be, some risks may not be identified during the DD Exercise. This omission could be due to inadvertence by the Acquirer, considering the large volumes of information and documentation involved during DD Exercise or wilful concealment by the Target. Thus, to guard against any error that might have occurred, the purchase agreements (of the shares or assets) will contain representations and warranties issued by the Target to the Acquirer and indemnity clauses by the Target or Seller to indemnify the Acquirer for any losses that may arise where the representations and warranties are incorrect. Usually, the representations and warranties include:

1. The Target or Seller has a title to the assets/share, and the title is not encumbered.
2. The Target is valid, incorporated, and existing under relevant laws.
3. The Target has obtained necessary government permits, approvals, and licenses to operate the asset and they are valid and subsisting.
4. That there are no existing, threatened and pending material litigation or governmental investigation against the assets and the Target.
5. That all necessary taxes and royalties have been duly paid.
6. That there it is in compliance with necessary environmental, health and safety regulations.
7. That all material contracts necessary to the transaction have been disclosed, and there is no breach/default under the disclosed agreements.

Conclusion

DD Exercises are crucial to the success of any transaction/acquisition/investment. Therefore, DD Exercises must be carried out thoroughly and extensively, bearing in mind the commercials and innovative ways to mitigate identified risks.

I hope you find this educating. Thank you!

Iyanujesu is a first-class graduate (among the top 30 (0.6%) out of 5,689 students) from the Nigerian Law School. She is an associate in a leading commercial law firm in Lagos, Nigeria, where she advises energy companies on different aspects to project structuring, development, and financing. She advises clients in different sectors on corporate, commercial, oil and gas, mergers and acquisitions, financing, power, infrastructure, and capital markets. She is skilled in legal advisory, regulatory compliance, contract negotiation, research, and writing. She advocates leadership, volunteering, and teamwork. She has to her name several leadership and entrepreneurial awards. She enjoys writing, and she has an academic blog where she writes on commercial issues- https://medium.com/@iyanujesu.oguntunji .

Why Multinational Companies Do Not Make Nigeria The Venue And Seat Of Arbitration | Oni Oluwatoyin Bamidele

by Legalnaija | Feb 17, 2023 | Uncategorized

Introduction:

Despite the numerous advantages of Arbitration and ADR to the global economy, Nigeria has steadily witnessed a slow-paced development in the settlement of commercial disputes through arbitration and other ADR mechanisms, majority of the Multinational companies with huge transactions and high-profile Commercial disputes have continually made foreign countries the venue and seat of Arbitration. Numerous Arbitral proceedings are conducted outside Nigeria even though the commercial disputes occurred in Nigeria. Unfortunately, this has led to low patronage of Nigerian Arbitrators and the increasing volume of arbitrable disputes in Nigeria has not translated into many businesses for Nigerian Arbitrators.

In a bid to foster the growth of arbitration in Nigeria, Numerous legal luminaries have urged businesses and legal practitioners to make Nigeria the seat and venue of arbitration especially where the subject-matter of the dispute is connected to Nigeria. At the 2022 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb), The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN noted that making Nigeria the seat and venue of Arbitration in commercial agreements would enhance foreign direct investment and further boost the Country’s economy.

While some persons have attributed these concerns to the lack of confidence in Nigerian Arbitrators, it is pertinent to state that there are other reasons why this menace exists.

The major reasons why Multinational Companies do not make Nigeria the seat and venue of Arbitration are:

1. The ease with which arbitral agreements and awards are dismissed by Nigerian Courts on ground of technicalities;

A classic example of this discouraging circumstance is the decision of the Court of appeal in Mekwunye v. Imoukhuede, it took the intervention of the supreme court to overturn this decision and despite the Supreme court’s decision, it took 12 years between 2007 when the arbitral award was made and 2019 when the Supreme Court finally laid the matter to rest.

In Mekwunye’s case (supra), the Court of Appeal had indeed set aside the Arbitral award based on a minor error on the executed agreement; the arbitration clause had wrongly referred to the appointing authority as “Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London, Nigeria Branch,” instead of “Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK, Nigeria Branch”. The Court of appeal dismissed the arbitration agreement and the arbitral award on the ground that the name of appointing authority was wrongly written. This decision brought distrust and uncertainties to the future of commercial arbitration in Nigeria as no Company would want to have its commercial disputes resolved in a country where judicial intervention is capable of setting aside an arbitral award at any cost on the ground of technicalities.

2.  Delays and bottlenecks in enforcement of arbitral awards and appeals;

Even though the 2018 World Bank index on ease of doing business ranked Nigeria as 96th in enforcement of contract and stated that it takes about 454 days to enforce a contract through the court, The length and stress involved in enforcement of arbitral awards in Nigeria is not entirely pleasant for commercial activities as profits from arbitral awards may remain inaccessible for a long time due to the number of days involved before enforcement is achieved. Aside from the long duration in enforcement of arbitral awards, another major challenge is the duration of appeals; appeals may be pending for 8 to 10 years if taken from the High Court to the Supreme Court.

In providing a solution to this menace, The Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb) has suggested that specialized commercial courts be established to tackle the delays in enforcement of arbitral awards. It is also suggested that the leave of Court should first be sought and obtained before an   application to challenge an arbitral award or an appeal against the enforcement of an award is brought before the court. 

3. long overdue laws which do not embrace recent global trends in International Commercial Arbitration;

The principal enactment governing the practice of Arbitration in Nigeria is the Arbitration and Conciliation Act which was enacted in 1988 and now long overdue for a change. There are numerous 21^st century advancements which are not yet applicable in Nigeria due to delays in enactment of a new Arbitration and Mediation Act. The National Assembly has passed a bill known as the Arbitration and Mediation Bill 2022 (the “Bill”), The Bill represents a significant upgrade from its predecessor but unfortunately the bill is still awaiting Presidential Assent since 10th of May 2022.

In conclusion, there is need to develop a national policy on Arbitration, ensuring that trades and contracts executed in Nigeria had embedded in them an Arbitration clause which makes Nigeria the venue and seat of Arbitration and thereby promoting job creation and economic growth. As a full or part-time Arbitrator, what is key is having jobs or services to render. Nigerians get trained in ADR and Arbitration with the hope that they will make a viable career and also mke a living. Unfortunately, they are faced with a lack of opportunities to practice the skills.

References:

1. Suit No. SC/851/2014: Dr. Charles Mekwunye V Christian Imoukhuede (Judgment delivered on 7th of June 2019)
2. Olubayo Oluduro, PhD (Ghent), FCArb. & Akin Olawale Oluwadayisi, Ph.D. (Ilorin) (2021) Journal on Arbitration volume 16  Number 1 ISSN: 2021-957x pp. 1-165
3. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/11/29/malami-suggests-nigeria-as-seat-of-arbitration/
4. https://brooksandknights.com/2020/05/07/revamping-the-arbitration-process-in-nigeria-in-ensuring-speedy-resolution-of-commercial-disputes-a-consideration-of-the-case-of-mekwunye-v-imoukhuede/
5. https://www.mondaq.com/nigeria/court-procedure/767768/enforcement-of-arbitral-awards
6. https://businessday.ng/news/article/nicarb-recommends-specialized-courts-to-alleviate-delays-in-enforcing-arbitral-awards/
7. Oladimeji Ramon, Nigerian Arbitrators  Battle Job Loss to Foreigners (punch, 1 November 2018) https://punchng.com/nigerian-arbitrators-battle-job-loss-to-foreigners/
8. https://thenigerialawyer.com/how-arbitration-and-adr-can-become-an-additional-career-for-all-professionals/
9. Urska Velikonja, ‘Making Peace and Making Money: Economic Analysis of the Market for Mediators in private practice,’ 72 (2009) Albany Law Review, 257-291 at 271

Oni Oluwatoyin Bamidele (Jurist O’toyin)

onioluwatoyinbamidele@gmail.com

How To Love A Lawyer

by Legalnaija | Feb 5, 2023 | Uncategorized

Loving a lawyer can be an amazing experience, not only are you with a very smart, talented and intelligent person but you know they definitively also have style.

If you have a lawyer Bae, here a few tips on how you can show them you love them this valentine.

1. Support their law practice by referring clients to them.

2. Buy them books in their area of practice, you can find law books here legalnaija.com/shop plus you get a 15% discount when you use the Voucher Code: ILOVELAWYERS

3. Don’t stress a lawyer, they are already dealing with a lot at work so don’t add to that.

4. Get your facts/ stories right because lawyers deal with a lot two-time double dealers in the course of their work, so they will spot any inconsistencies in your statements, and you don’t want them to grill you like an hostile witness.

5. Give them space for work and understand their jobs are very important.

6. Be patient with them. Lawyers are thinkers, and their minds never stop working, so dating them requires communication, understanding, and patience.

If you have at more tips for anyone dating a lawyer, drop them below this tweet.

@Legalnaija