LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW – Military Decrees – Ouster of Jurisdiction – Effect
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Similarly, as in military regimes, decrees of the Federal Military Government clearly oust the court's jurisdiction, there is no dancing round the issue to found jurisdiction that has been taken away. Lawyers trained and groomed under the notion of civil liberty frown on ouster provisions in any act of parliament; so do the judges of similar background. But it must be remembered that Armed Forces Ruling Council is not a parliament, neither does it pretend to be one. We have lived with their decrees for long now that there should be no doubt as to the meaning of their ouster provisions.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Mohammed, JSC (adopting Belgore, JSC in Nwosu v. Imo State Environmental Sanitation Authority), in Omo v. JSC, Delta State & Ors (2000) NLC-3041990(SC) at p. 16; Paras A–C.
"Similarly, as in military regimes, decrees of the Federal Military Government clearly oust the court's jurisdiction, there is no dancing round the issue to found jurisdiction that has been taken away. Lawyers trained and groomed under the notion of civil liberty frown on ouster provisions in any act of parliament; so do the judges of similar background. But it must be remembered that Armed Forces Ruling Council is not a parliament, neither does it pretend to be one. We have lived with their decrees for long now that there should be no doubt as to the meaning of their ouster provisions."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Military decrees with ouster clauses unequivocally remove court jurisdiction. Despite judicial and legal distaste for ouster provisions, courts must give effect to clear decree language. The Armed Forces Ruling Council was not a parliament operating under normal constitutional constraints. Ouster provisions must be interpreted plainly—no artificial construction can restore jurisdiction where it is explicitly removed. Courts cannot circumvent clear ouster by creative interpretation. This reflects the reality of military governance where decrees operated as supreme law with binding effect on courts.