| Abstract: | In recent years, the judicial systems of African countries have been increasingly ineffective, as demonstrated in cases as
varied as the genocide in Rwanda and the land seizures in Zimbabwe. It is not only in cases involving individual rights and
the state that the legal system is barely existent. The situation is just as bad, if not worse, in the administration of criminal
justice. Whether it is the police, the prisons, or the courts, under both military and democratic governments, we are confronted with evidence of the impotence of the judiciary. This article examines
the relationship between the executive and judicial branches of government in Nigeria. It also makes recommendations to improve
the responsiveness and effectiveness of African judiciaries in checking executive power. |
