The Centre for Private International Law of the University of Aberdeen is organsing a webinar in its Crossroads in Private International Law Series, The Private Side of Transforming Our World: UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Role of Private International Law. The webinar will take place on 5 December 2022 at 2 pm (GMT).

Prof Dr Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (Chair of Private International Law, School of Law, University of Edinburgh) will focus on the role of private international law in implementing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and highlight, however, that it is essential to assess the impact of contemporary approaches in PIL on the realisation of the SDGs in a changeable legal landscape. She was one of the editors of the volume The Private Side of Transforming our World (Intersentia, 2021), which demonstrates that private international law is as an integral part of the global legal architecture needed to turn the SDGs into reality.

The event will be moderated by Prof Laura Carballo Piñeiro of the Universida de Vigo.

Interested persons should please register.

The call for abstracts for the ‘Transnational Dispute Resolution in an Increasingly Digitalized World’ conference is now open until 1 December 2021. This online conference will be hosted by the Center for the Future of Dispute Resolution at Ghent University on Thursday 24 March 2022.

The increased digitalization in the field dispute resolution, which received a boost from the Covid-19 pandemic, raises a number of important questions in terms of privacy, cybersecurity, data protection and artificial intelligence, going from rather practical concerns (how to protect the information exchanged, how to organize the taking of evidence, how to comply with the various obligations, etc.) to more fundamental inquiries (does it scare litigants off, does it foster or rather compromise efficiency, etc.).

The goal of the conference is to bring together academics, practitioners and policy makers with expertise in the field of dispute resolution (arbitration, transnational litigation, mediation, other ADR mechanisms) and technology law. That is why we are particularly (but not exclusively) interested in contributions that focus on

• Obligations of the actors of justice
• Challenges and opportunities of (partial) online proceedings
• Evidentiary issues related to cybersecurity and data protection
• The (ab)use of these instruments as a dispute resolution strategy

and discuss these forward-looking dispute resolution topics in light of the various privacy, data protection, cybersecurity and AI regulations.

Ph.D. candidates, senior researchers and legal practitioners are invited to submit an abstract (on one of the topics above or on a topic of their own choice relating to the general theme) by 1 December 2021 to Maud.Piers@ugent.be and Wannes.Vandenbussche@ugent.be. Abstracts should be no longer than 1000 words. Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by 10 January 2022.

All contributions should be in English. This online conference is intended to serve as a first opportunity to present and discuss the authors’ ideas. Publication venues for the final papers will also be explored.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the two members of the organizing committee.

Maud Piers

Wannes Vandenbussche

Written by Orji Agwu Uka, Senior Associate at Africa Law Practice (ALP)*

This is the fifth and final online symposium on Private International Law in Nigeria initially announced on this blog. It was published today on Afronomicslaw.org. The first  introductory symposium was published here by Chukwuma Samuel Adesina Okoli and Richard Frimpong Oppong, the second symposium was published by Anthony Kennedy, the third symposium was published by Richard Mike Mlambe, and the fourth symposium was published by Dr Abubakri Yekini.

For too long, law students in Nigerian universities have largely considered Private International Law [or Conflict of Laws as it is more commonly known in Nigeria] as an esoteric subject. Most students avoid it because of the adverse effect they think it is sure to have on their cumulative grade points average and the seeming lack of practical benefit of the subject to their future law practices. They do not know any better. Nigerian legal practitioners have had to provide legal advice and represent clients before trial and appellate courts as well as arbitral tribunals on disputes involving private international law questions within the context of Nigerian law. Those pieces of advice and legal representations would have benefitted greatly from a comprehensive private international law treatise. On their part, Nigerian courts have had to meander through the maze of interpreting questions of private international law without the benefit of the direction that high quality academic works [available in some other subject areas] provide. I am gratified to announce that finally, a Daniel is come to judgment.

Since Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999, there have been significant increase in cross border trade, international business transactions and foreign investments in Nigeria. Successive Nigerian governments across all tiers have made the attraction of foreign investments a cardinal part of their economic policies and have accordingly made deliberate efforts and committed abundant resources to attract foreign investments into Nigeria.[1]This accords with the preponderance of opinion to the effect that, with the right economic policies, FDI inflow into developing economies can be a major catalyst for economic development.[2] With these activities however, have come the resultant need for increased attention to the body of laws in Nigeria that regulate transactions with multi-jurisdictional elements.

In a recent article, I called for increased study of private international law in Africa and the establishment of a harmonised private international legal regime especially in the context of the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which came into force on 30 May 2019.[3] I argued that the economic integration and the concomitant growth in international relationships that are sure to result from these integration efforts will undoubtedly lead to a rise in cross border disputes, which call for resolution using the instrumentality of private international law. That call, especially in the case of Nigeria, was significantly handicapped by the absence of a treatise length textbook on the subject.

Interestingly, I had, in that article, borrowed heavily from the writings of Professor Richard Frimpong Oppong, a renowned private international law expert in Africa, and Dr Chukwuma Samuel Okoli, a Postdoctoral Researcher at T. M. C. Asser Institute in the Hague and a prolific writer in the field of private international law in Nigeria. Writing on the importance of a private international law system that responds to the interests of Africa, Dr Okoli observed that with growing international trade with Africa comes an inevitable rise in disputes among contracting parties conducting trade on the continent.[4]According to him, when these disputes arise, questions such as what courts have jurisdiction, what law(s) should apply, and whether a foreign judgment will be recognised and enforced by the courts of African States, will need to be resolved for international trade to run smoothly.[5]

On his part, Professor Oppong, argued that a well-developed and harmonised private international law regime is an indispensable element in any economic community and can play a significant role in addressing issues such as the promotion of international trade and investment, immigration, regional economic integration, globalisation and legal pluralism.[6] It is altogether fitting that these two will join forces to produce the first treatise length textbook on private international law in Nigeria and it is against the foregoing backdrop that I wholeheartedly welcome the product of their collaboration – Private International Law in Nigeria.[7]

The book examines Nigerian law rules, principles, and doctrines for the resolution of disputes with cross-border components. The authors begin by tackling the elephant in the room which is to provide a helpful explanation of the conceptual and preliminary issues which constitute the most intricate aspects of private international law. The concepts addressed are Characterisation; Substance and Procedure; and of course, Renvoi which the authors wittingly recall has been described in the past as a subject loved by academics, hated by students and ignored by lawyers and judges. There is also a special treatment of the concept of domicile which is one of the cardinal concepts in the field of English private international law and by necessary implication that of Nigeria, and which is one of the fundamental connecting factors that indicate the law or jurisdiction that governs a dispute particularly in matters related to jurisdiction, family law, property law, and other issues affecting the legal rights and privileges of parties.

The book expertly navigates the topic of jurisdiction, a cardinal concept under Nigerian adjectival law, but which in some cases is weaponised and has now acquired exaggerated notoriety to the extent that it now constitutes a cog in the wheel of the smooth and timely determination of cases in Nigeria. To avoid the monster that jurisdiction as a concept has developed into, the book carefully focuses on a consideration of jurisdiction in actions in personam. The authors consider the rules for determining jurisdiction in actions in personam and the extent to which judges in Nigeria have succeeded or mostly failed in appreciating or applying jurisdictional rule son actions in personam especially by misapplying rules designed for international litigation in the context of interstate disputes in the unique federal system practiced in Nigeria.

The result of the authors’ analyses of Nigerian appellate courts’ cases bordering on the jurisdiction of Nigerian courts in actions in personam arising from causes of action which accrue outside the territorial jurisdiction of the courts is particularly eye-opening. The authors divide the failure of Nigerian courts in this regard into three scenarios to wit: cases where Nigerian courts reach the right decision but wrongly apply choice of venue rules to arrive at that decision; cases where Nigerian courts wrongly apply choice of venue rules and reach the wrong decision; and cases where Nigerian courts simply conflate the choice of venue provisions in the rules of the respective courts in Nigeria with the rules of private international law applicable in actions in personam in Nigeria. The reasoning of the courts in the cases treated leaves a lot to be desired and call for a dispassionate soul searching.

Private International Law in Nigeria lucidly addresses the historical controversies surrounding the requirement for leave to issue and serve a court process out of jurisdiction both in the case of interstate (domestic) disputes and in international disputes strictly so called. The book highlights the delicate balance between the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act and the various rules of court. For good measure, the authors clearly explain what the Nigerian Supreme Court got wrong in the infamous M. V. Arabella case [which the court has now thankfully moved away from].[8] In that case the Supreme Court set aside a writ of summons that was issued in the Federal High Court Lagos and served on a defendant resident in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory without the leave of court. The court relied on Order 10 rule 14 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 1976[9] and discountenanced the contention of the appellant that the Federal High Court is one court and no leave of court is required to issue and serve a court process in one judicial division of the court (i.e. in one State) for service in another State. The authors however rightly highlight the reluctance of the Supreme Court to explicitly overrule cases that were obviously wrong, a trend that has been on the rise in the last two decades; and which is the subject of another day’s discussion.

What I would consider as an ambitious aspect of the book, however, is the authors’ categorical position regarding the non-binding effect of the obiter dicta of some Supreme Court decisions. For instance, while discussing a recent decision of the Nigerian Supreme Court,[10]the authors stated that the obiter dictum of Aka’ahs JSC is not binding on lower courts in Nigeria and should not be followed.[11]While this undoubtedly represents the correct position of the law in principle, it is however of doubtful practical effect given the peculiarity of the diminishing line between rationes decidendi and obiter dicta under the Nigerian version of the doctrine of stare decisis as well the attitude of Nigerian courts to decisions of higher courts.

Special consideration is also given to such procedural law concepts as ‘forum selection clauses’, ‘forum non conveniens’, ‘lis alibi pendens’ and ‘limitations on jurisdiction’ as well as the substantive law topics of Contract, Torts, Foreign Currency Obligations, Bills of Exchange, Marriage, Matrimonial Causes and Administration of Estates. Very crucially too, the book does not fail to address the critical topics of enforcement of foreign judgments and international arbitral awards, while the last two chapters, grouped under a part entitled, ‘International Civil Procedure’ are dedicated to the consideration of the procedural rules applicable in international civil disputes including domestic remedies affecting foreign proceedings, international judicial assistance in the service of legal processes and taking of evidence. Nigerian lawyers with cross border practices will find these two chapters particularly helpful. One topic that is however given a less than adequate treatment is the topic of adoption. To be fair, adoption law and procedure in Nigeria is largely covered in opacity but a more comprehensive treatment of the subject in this book would have finally afforded practitioners the long-needed reference point.

On the whole, the book draws on over five hundred Nigerian cases including [thankfully] contemporary judicial decisions touching on the subject of private international law, relevant legislations and academic writings while exploring, where necessary, comparative perspectives from other jurisdictions.

This book is without doubt, one of the most impactful legal textbooks in Nigeria in at least twenty five years. It is a refreshing addition to the legal libraries across Nigeria and beyond. Judges at all levels of courts in Nigeria, legal practitioners, arbitrators and lawmakers alike as well as law teachers, researchers and students, will find Private International Law in Nigeria a highly resourceful and practical guide that fills an intellectual void in a long neglected but increasingly critical field of law. It is a long overdue contribution to the field of private international law in particular, and to legal scholarship in Nigeria as a whole.

 

 

*Orji Agwu Uka is a Senior Associate at a top Commercial Law Firm in Lagos, Nigeria. He holds an LLM from King’s College London and an LLB from Abia State University, Uturu Nigeria.

[1]Akinlo Enisan, ‘Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria: A Markov Regime-Switching Approach’ (2018) RIC 21.

[2] Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Foreign Direct Investment for Development: Maximising Benefits, Minimising Costs (OECD 2002) 3.

[3]Orji Uka, ‘Cross Border Dispute Resolution under AfCFTA: A Call for the Establishment of a Pan-African Harmonised Private International Legal Regime to Actualise Agenda 2063’ (2020) ALP available at http://alp.company/resources/business-advisory/cross-border-dispute-resolution-under-afcfta-call-establishment-pan last accessed on 11 November 2020.

[4]Chukwuma Okoli, ‘Private International Law in Africa: Comparative Lessons’ available at http://conflictoflaws.net/2019/private–international–law–in–africa–comparative–lessons/.

[5]Chukwuma Okoli, (n. 4) above.

[6] Richard Frimpong Oppong, ‘Private International Law and the African Economic Community: A Plea for Greater Attention’ The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 4 (Oct., 2006), Cambridge University Press pp.911-928 available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/4092623.

[7]Chukwuma Samuel Adesina Okoli and Richard Frimpong Oppong, Private International Law in Nigeria Hart Publishing: Oxford, 2020.

[8]Owners of M. V. Arabella v Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation (2008) 11 NWLR (Pt. 1097) 182.

[9]For similar reasons, the Court of Appeal in Nestle (Nig) Plc v. Owners of M. V. MSC Agata(2014) 1 NWLR (Pt. 1388) 270 at pp. 288-290 set aside writ while relying on Order 6 rule 12(1) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2000.

[10]Social Democratic Party v Bieman unreported decision of the Supreme Court in Appeal No. SC/341/2019 43.

[11]Chukwuma Okoli and Richard Oppong, (n. 7) above at p. 73.

 

Written by Richard Mike Mlambe, Attorney and Lecturer at University of Malawi- The Polytechnic

This is the third online symposium on Private International Law in Nigeria initially announced on this blog. It was published today on Afronomics.org. The first  introductory symposium was published here by Chukwuma Samuel Adesina Okoli and Richard Frimpong Oppong, and second symposium was published by Anthony Kennedy. More blog posts on this online symposium will follow this week.

Introduction

The Nigerian private international law (hereinafter PIL) regime is significantly influenced by the common law. As a result, the common law plays a major role in providing the applicable rules on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.[1] Like in many other common law jurisdictions, Nigerian courts recognize and enforce foreign judgments only if, in the eyes of Nigerian PIL, the foreign court had jurisdiction to render the judgment in question.[2] The recognized bases of jurisdiction are submission, residence and presence of the defendant within the foreign country.[3] This is also the position in other common law countries such as South Africa[4], Australia[6]and Malawi.[7]

As a result of the foregoing, Nigerian courts would refuse to recognize and enforce a judgment of a foreign court where the defendant was not present/resident in the foreign country and did not submit to its jurisdiction.[8] It must be emphasized that once the court finds that none of the above grounds is established, then the foreign court is deemed not to have possessed jurisdiction regardless of any connection that the parties or the transaction in issue may have had with the foreign country.

 

Nigerian and Canadian PIL

Okoli and Oppong have observed as follows:

“It is open to question whether the existing recognised bases of international competence – residence, presence, and submission – are adequate for the current international climate of increased trade, movement of persons, and transnational relationships. From a comparative perspective, Canadian courts have applied the real and substantial connection test. This basis   requires that a significant connection exist between the cause of action and the foreign court. Such a connection could include the fact that the cause of action arose in the jurisdiction of the foreign court, or that jurisdiction was the place in which the contractual obligation was to be performed. The ‘real and substantial connection’ test has not found favour outside Canada, and the test has been the subject of academic criticism.”[9]

Under Canadian PIL, the traditional common law principles are recognized such that a foreign court will be deemed to have jurisdiction if the defendant submitted to the jurisdiction of that court[10] or where the defendant was resident[11] or present[12] in the territory of the foreign court. In addition to these bases, the foreign court’s jurisdiction will be recognized where there was a real and substantial connection between the matter and the foreign court.[13] The real and substantial connection test entails that a Canadian court can recognize and enforce a foreign judgment that was delivered in circumstances where the defendant was not physically present in the jurisdiction when served with the originating process, as long as a real and substantial connection between the case or the parties and that foreign jurisdiction exists. This is therefore an additional ground of jurisdiction to the traditional common law grounds obtaining in Nigeria and other common law jurisdictions.

While Nigerian courts insist on the physical presence/residence of the defendant in the foreign territory[14]Canadian courts will go further to determine if there was a real and substantial connection between the matter and the foreign forum. This paper discusses the differences in the two approaches in view of their impact on the interests of justice between the parties, and suggest, with reasons, that Nigeria and the rest of the common law should derive lessons from Canadian PIL.

 

Discussion

This paper acknowledges that the requirement of presence of the defendant in the territory of the foreign court at the time of service ensures that the proceedings are conducted in accordance with the principles of natural justice. If the defendant was not present, the necessary originating processes may fail to reach him, or at least in good time, so as to have sufficient time to defend his case.[15]

However, the fact that in Nigerian a court may be satisfied that the foreign court had jurisdiction merely by virtue of the defendant’s presence therein, without more, is not satisfactory. Firstly, such an approach enables recognition of a foreign judgment that was rendered by a court that was not connected, or at least sufficiently connected, to the case, and therefore an inappropriate court. As a result, the international jurisdiction of a court that has no connection at all with the case or the parties would be established simply because the defendant happens to have been present within that country, no matter how brief the stay may have been in that country. This may encourage forum shopping.[16] The plaintiff may deliberately institute proceedings in a court that is not connected to the case and therefore inappropriate, knowing that the resulting judgment will be accorded recognition and enforcement in Nigeria. Actually, it is this paper’s view that if this is to be followed to its ultimate logical conclusion, then any country in the world has jurisdiction to render a judgment capable of recognition in Nigeria and other common law countries as long as the originating process was served on the defendant within its territory regardless of how little, if any, is that jurisdiction’s connection to the case.[17] We do not believe that such a result is consistent with the ends of justice.[18]

 

Secondly, the insistency on the presence of the defendant in the foreign court practically means that an unscrupulous defendant is at liberty, at the first hint of a dispute, to prevent the plaintiff from getting a judgment capable of recognition in England merely by leaving the natural and appropriate jurisdiction in which the plaintiff may institute proceedings against him. Much as the plaintiff may still initiate the proceedings against the defendant and service be effected in accordance with the procedure for service out of jurisdiction, this paper’s view is that as long as the plaintiff would be unable to secure recognition and enforcement of that judgment on the ground of the defendant’s absence from the jurisdiction, the plaintiff’s right to access to justice and legal remedies would be infringed.[19]

Actually, in our view, the injustice occasioned by the insistence on the presence of the defendant as a necessary and sufficient condition as far as jurisdiction is concerned, may be suffered not only by the plaintiff but also by the defendant. The plaintiff, as stated in the preceding paragraph, may be unable to enforce a judgment that was obtained in a country that is very appropriate forum as long as the defendant was not present, notwithstanding his right to access to justice and effective remedies.[20] On the part of the defendant, a Nigerian court may recognize and enforce a foreign judgment rendered by a court that was not in any material way connected to the case.[21] It is our view that considerations such as these necessitate a revision in the common law approach to presence as a ground of jurisdiction for purposes of recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.[22]

Under Canadian PIL, a foreign judgment will be enforced against a defendant who was not present within the territory of the foreign forum provided that there was a real and substantial connection between the matter and the forum.[23] Further, it must be noted that the Canadian court will ensure that the rights of the defendant were protected and that the proceedings were conducted in accordance with the principles of natural justice.[24] Put precisely, the courts will require the judgment creditor[25] to satisfy them that the defendant was aware of the proceedings against him through proof of service. The real and substantial connection test therefore enables the plaintiff to have the judgment enforced in circumstances where the court properly exercised jurisdiction even if service was not effected on the defendant within the foreign court’s territory. In this case, the plaintiff’s fundamental right to access to justice and legal remedies as well as the defendant’s right to be duly served with the originating process and to have sufficient time to defend his case are both served.[26]

There are two points that need to be made here. Firstly, under Nigerian PIL, provision is made for service outside jurisdiction if the defendant is not present within the jurisdiction and the case is sufficiently connected with Nigeria and it is the appropriate forum for hearing the case.[27] It can be argued, therefore, that if Nigerian law recognizes that there are circumstances under which courts can properly exercise jurisdiction against a defendant who is not within the jurisdiction and was actually served out of jurisdiction with originating process, why should they not accept that other courts can also exercise jurisdiction under the same circumstances and therefore be able to recognize and enforce judgments rendered by foreign courts under similar circumstances?[28]

Secondly, it must be stated that Nigerian courts are able to decline jurisdiction, when called upon to hear a case, if upon considering all relevant factors, they form the view that another forum exists with jurisdiction and is the more appropriate forum.[29] However, when a judgment is brought for recognition in Nigeria, Nigerian courts would not examine the appropriateness of the foreign court and would recognize that judgment even if the case was not in any way connected to that jurisdiction as long as the defendant’s presence is established. Why should the Nigerian courts, and indeed the courts in other common law jurisdictions, be able to recognize that jurisdiction should be exercised when it is appropriate to do so in the interest of justice when they are asked to hear a case, and then take a very different approach when it comes to recognition of foreign judgments so that they end up recognizing judgments rendered by forums that would be deemed appropriate?[30]

It is submitted that refusal to recognize and enforce foreign judgments by common law courts on the basis of the defendant’s absence from the foreign court, even when the matter was sufficiently connected to that foreign court, is an affront to the ends of justice in international litigation and is not in accordance with the realities of international commercial life. The approach of the Canadian courts through the adoption of the ‘real and substantial connection’ test is commendable. This paper laments that Nigeria and other common law jurisdictions have not joined Canada in this positive direction. An opportunity arose in Malawi, another common law jurisdiction, to modernize her international civil procedure when the Courts (High Court) (Civil Procedure) Rules (2017) were enacted. There is no provision at all with regard to recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, which leaves the common law regime unchanged. One can only express regret at this missed opportunity.

 

Conclusion

It has been seen that presence of the defendant in the foreign jurisdiction is a basis of jurisdiction of the foreign court for a judgment rendered by that court to be recognized and enforced in Nigeria. In Canada, it is also a recognized basis of the jurisdiction of the foreign court but a foreign judgment may be recognized even when the defendant was not present in the foreign country as long as a real and substantial connection exists between the matter and the foreign jurisdiction.

This paper is of the view that the insistence of the common law on the presence of the defendant in the foreign country leads to injustices in circumstances where recognition is accorded to a judgment having been delivered in a foreign forum that was not appropriate, on one hand, or when a foreign judgment is refused recognition where it was rendered by an appropriate court merely on the basis of the defendant’s absence from the foreign jurisdiction, on the other hand. It is therefore submitted that Nigeria and the rest of the common law should join Canada in applying and developing a test that prevents presence or absence of a defendant from undermining the ends of justice in international litigation and, in particular, in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

[1] See Richard Frimpong Oppong Private International Law in Commonwealth Africa (Cambridge University Press) 2013 p. 313.

[2] Nigeria law has both a statutory and common law regime for the enforcement of foreign judgments. In this paper, the focus is exclusively on the common law regime. Further, this paper focuses on jurisdiction as a condition of the recognition and enforcement of the foreign judgment and the other conditions (such as finality of the foreign judgment) are not addressed.

[3] Oppong (n1 ) 320.

[4] Richman vBen Tovim, SCA [2006] 148, [2007] (2) SA 283

[5] Burham vSuperior Court of California, 495 US 604; and Born, Rutledge and Kluwer International Civil Litigation in United States Courts (2011) 1120.

[6] Herman vMeallin (1891) 8 WN (NSW) 38.

[7] Malawi also has both a statutory and common law regime for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

[8] Submission is established either through choice of forum agreements or where he defendant pleads to the merits of the case without contesting jurisdiction which the court otherwise did not have.

[9] Chukwuma Samuel Adesina Okoli and Richard Fimpong Oppong Private International Law in Nigeria (Bloomsbury publishing) 2020 p 353.

[10] Richardson v Allen (1916), 28 D.L.R. 134 (Alta S.C. (A.D.))

[11] First Hawaiian Bank v Smith, [1999] A.J. No. 643, 245 A.R. 148 (Alta Q.B.).

[12] Royal Bank of Canada v Industmarine Ltd., [1982] B.C.J. No. 2365. The constitutionality of mere presence as a ground of jurisdiction is however a controversial issue in Canada.

[13] Morguard Investment Ltd v De Savoye, [1990] S.C.J, No.135, 76 D.L.R. (4^th) 256 (S.C.C.). This is a landmark and revolutionary decision that marked a departure from the refusal of recognition of foreign judgments if the defendant was absent from the jurisdiction of the court that delivered the judgment. The court felt that time had come to take a different approach to recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. Indeed the principles laid down in this case have been confirmed in the subsequent case law of the Supreme Court of Canada, most notably, in Beals v Saldanha (2003) 3 SCR 416.

[14] Assuming that the defendant did not submit to the jurisdiction of the foreign court

[15] See Castel Conflict of Laws Cases, Notes and Materials (1968) 956 where the author actually states that the question of whether a court should have jurisdiction to entertain actions against absent defendants and give judgments which though effective territorially can be recognized in other jurisdictions is a policy issue not for the courts, thereby suggesting (it is submitted) that the court should be slow to render recognition to such judgments except where by legislation they are empowered to do so.

[16] See Tilbury, Davies an Opeskin Conflict of Laws in Australia (2002) 139 where the learned authors write: “A party engages in forum shopping when it seeks to litigate its case in a forum has little genuine connection with the court or the parties. Both plaintiff and defendant may influence the forum in which a case is tried, but the plaintiff is usually better able to do so”.

[17] See Collins (ed) Dicey, Morris and Collins on the Conflict of Laws (2012) 693 who seem to justify mere presence as a ground of jurisdiction on the basis of the temporary allegiance owed by the defendant to the local sovereign.

[18] See Ehrenzweig The Transient Rule of Personal Jurisdiction; The “Power” Myth and Forum Conveniens in Jurisdiction and Private International Law (2014) 565.

[19] It is therefore respectfully submitted that this may amount to a denial of the right to legal remedies and redress by preventing the plaintiff from enforcing the judgment. See generally Grosvenor Casinos Ltd v Ghassan Halaoui (2009 ) 10 NWLR 309.

[20] See TC Hartley International Commercial Litigation Texts, Cases and Materials in Private International Law (2015) 406. The learned author states that actually as far as English courts are concerned, if the defendant was absent from the jurisdiction in question, the fact that a contract was breached in that foreign country or that the tort was committed there does not suffice to confer jurisdiction on the foreign court.

[21] This means that the plaintiff may benefit from his forum shopping.

[22] Indeed the consideration of the injustices occasioned by the traditional common law principles convinced the Supreme Court of Canada to adopt the real and substantial connection test.

[23] See n 13.

[24] If the plaintiff fails to show that the principles of natural justice were adhered to the court will refuse recognition of the foreign judgment.

[25] Usually the plaintiff

[26] It is the submission of this paper that this is the approach that is in accord with the nature of private international law because it is based on the recognition that the parties will not always be physically present in the same jurisdiction when causes of action arise between them. The real and substantial connection test, in the view of this paper, is a recognition of this reality.

[27] See, for example, High Court of Kaduna State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2007, Ord. 8, r. 1)

[28] In other words, why should Nigerian court be able to exercise jurisdiction when they are not ready to recognize the judgments rendered by foreign courts under the same circumstances?

[29] The doctrine of forum non conveniens. On this doctrine in general see Spiliada Maritime Corp v Cansulex Ltd [1987] AC 460.

[30] In other words, why should the Nigerian court recognize that there are circumstances under which they may not be the appropriate forum for the trial of certain cases and decline to do so, and fail to recognize that the same may be the case in other jurisdictions and only regard mere physical presence of the defendant in the foreign territory as conclusive, no matter how improper the exercise of jurisdiction may have been in the foreign court?