Hemen Faga | Ebonyi State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Hemen Faga

Acta Universitatis Danubius: Juridica, 2019

The objective of this paper was to carry out a survey of remedial justification of the Nigerian p... more The objective of this paper was to carry out a survey of remedial justification of the Nigerian prison system with a view to proffering solutions aimed at the restructure and overhaul of the legal regime. The paper utilised both qualitative and quantitative methods of investigation.It adopted a case study and empirical review of corrective facilitiesavailable in Abakaliki, Enugu and Kuje Prisons all in Nigeriathrough a structured questionnaire administered to staff and inmates of these prisons for the purpose of ascertaining the adequacy of such facilities. The results showed a gross neglect of Nigerian prisons and a departure from the goal of rehabilitation and reformation of inmates. The paper however, found that the major challenges to restructuring Nigerian prisons flowed from the lacunae in the prisons law, unfaithfulness of the Nigerian government to promoting a viable criminal justice system through prisons reforms and public apathy. Our results in this paper will benefit res...

Lampung Journal of International Law, 2021

The many States are engulfed in crises over natural resources in the form of claims and countercl... more The many States are engulfed in crises over natural resources in the form of claims and counterclaims over who should exercise legal authority over the resources located within the state territory. In Nigeria, the agitation over control of natural resources has led to militancy and rebellion against the federal government and multinational oil companies. The debate on who should control and manage natural oil resources in Nigeria exists at the local community level, the federating states level, and the federal government level. This paper x-rayed the varying contentions of these agitations from an international law perspective. It adopted the doctrinal method to explore international human rights instruments and other legal and non-legal sources to realize the result and arrive at persuasive conclusions. The paper concluded that although international law guarantees states’ exercise of sovereign rights over their natural resources, it safeguards the right of indigenous peoples and c...

International journal of innovative research and development, 2016

Innovation is very imperative for the economic development of any nation. This article assessed t... more Innovation is very imperative for the economic development of any nation. This article assessed the various sectors of the Nigerian economy that need innovation; the defects in the legal framework for the protection of innovators in Nigeria; investigated factors challenging technological innovation in the country. Data were collected from statutes and case laws, textbooks and the internet. It was discovered that the level of innovation and technology in Nigeria is low and the Nigerian patent law is weak. Factors posing challenges to innovation in Nigeria includes institutional framework; human capital; research/innovation infrastructure; and sophisticated business community. This article recommended that the Government should evolve policies that would address the challenges in technological innovations. The patent law needs amendment. Modern research facilities should be established and human capital developed. In conclusion, the Nigerian economy can compete globally if the above ...

In homicide cases, it may be difficult to prove the cause of death if the body of the victim of a... more In homicide cases, it may be difficult to prove the cause of death if the body of the victim of an alleged murderous attack is not made available for medical examination. It is therefore obvious that there are instances and circumstances where persons accused of committing the offence of culpable homicide punishable with death take steps to destroy the body of their victims in order to avoid prosecution or conviction and punishment if prosecuted. It would seem that the legal perception and meaning of the body of the deceased in homicide cases otherwise called “corpus delicti” is largely misconstrued by lawyers and laymen alike. This paper examined this identified problem and attempted to correct same and also considered the importance of “corpus delicti” in criminal trials generally and in homicide cases in particular. It also considered the importance and relevance of the legal presumption of death which isof evidential value in both civil and criminal proceedings in bridging the g...

The Nigerian economy is a monolithic economy dependent mainly on oil. The price of oil has deprec... more The Nigerian economy is a monolithic economy dependent mainly on oil. The price of oil has depreciated in recent times and most developed economies have already set timelines to divert to renewable energy sources due to environmental concerns that result from the destructive effect of fossil fuel. These developments have affected adversely Nigeria’s economic development. Therefore, there is a need for Nigeria to diversify her economy to engender economic development especially through knowledge-based systems. The entertainment industry could bring this needed economic development if the potentials are fully harnessed through strong intellectual property laws and policies. This paper analysed the role of law in the protection of the entertainment industry from piracy and explained how the industry can contribute to the diversification drive of the Nigerian economy. Using doctrinal approach, the paper found that the Copyright Act, which is the extant law on the protection of copyright...

The Nigerian Child’s Rights Act 2003 guarantees the provision of ‘special protection measures’ or... more The Nigerian Child’s Rights Act 2003 guarantees the provision of ‘special protection measures’ or special needs of disabled children to enhance their enjoyment of rights contained in the Act. However, the Act makes the provision of such special needs or facilities subject to the availability of resources on the part of government or the person who has the duty to provide them. This paper analysed the implication of the ‘subject to available resources’ clause in the Act on the enjoyment of the rights of children with disabilities in Nigeria. It argued that although, the clause renders the rights of disabled children under the Act non-justiciable, the combined effect of other legislations and constitutional provisions guarantees at least the right of the disabled child to provision of special educational needs in a manner that may be enforceable in the court of law. The paper however, recommended an amendment of the Act to remove the offensive clause and the enactment of other legisla...

FIAT JUSTISIA:Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, 2020

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended (CFRN) recognizes the entitl... more The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended (CFRN) recognizes the entitlement of every Nigerian within its borders to enjoy economic and socio-cultural (ESC) rights under Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy. However, the constitution seemingly renders these ESC rights non-justiciable or unenforceable. This paper examines the efforts of the Nigerian judiciary to bypass the non-Justiciability provision to enforce ESC rights in Nigeria. It mainly investigates the role of judicial decisions in other similar jurisdictions such as South Africa and India in shaping the jurisprudence of the enforcement of ESC rights in Nigeria. Therefore, the paper adopts the comparative method and recommends that both the Nigerian legislature and the judiciary should follow the example of enforcement of ESC rights in these other jurisdictions.

Baltic Journal of Law & Politics, 2017

This paper is an attempt to draw distinctive lines between the concepts of cybercrime, cyber-atta... more This paper is an attempt to draw distinctive lines between the concepts of cybercrime, cyber-attack, and cyber warfare in the current information age, in which it has become difficult to separate the activities of transnational criminals from acts of belligerents using cyberspace. The paper considers the implications of transnational cyber threats in international humanitarian law (IHL) with a particular focus on cyber-attacks by non-state actors, the principles of state responsibility, and the implications of targeting non-state perpetrators under IHL. It concludes that current international law constructs are inadequate to address the implications of transnational cyber threats; the author recommends consequential amendments to the laws of war in order to address the challenges posed by transnational cyber threats.

Hasanuddin Law Review, 2017

The advent of deep-water oil exploration has increased concern for the impact of oil activities o... more The advent of deep-water oil exploration has increased concern for the impact of oil activities on marine environment, especially regarding disused or decommissioned facilities offshore. Before the Brent Spar incident, which galvanised international efforts to protect the environment, international and regional legal instruments on decommissioning of offshore oil installations was weak and ineffective in protecting the environment from the effect of disused facilities. This paper examined the efforts made by international and regional actors to remedy the lapses of the pre-Brent Spar legal instruments on decommissioning of offshore oil facilities, especially regarding the new provisions on environmental protection. The paper concluded that the supplementary legal instruments made post-Brent Spar have not radically transformed the legal regime on decommissioning of offshore oil facilities because contracting states still reserve the discretion to permit abandonment of disused facilit...

US-China Law Review, 2016

Problems of Legality, 2016

Academicus International Scientific Journal, 2017

This paper examined the phenomenon of hate speech and foul language on social media platforms in ... more This paper examined the phenomenon of hate speech and foul language on social media platforms in Nigeria, and assessed their moral and legal consequences in the society and to journalism practice. It used both quantitative and qualitative methodology to investigate the phenomenon. In the first place, the paper employed the survey research methodology to sample 384 respondents using questionnaire and focus group discussion as instruments for data collection. Findings from the research indicate that promoting hate speech and foul language on social media have moral and legal consequences in the society and to journalism practice. Findings also show that although, the respondents understand that hate speech and foul language attract legal consequences, they do not know what obligations are created by law against perpetrators of hate speech and foul language in Nigeria. The paper therefore, adopted the qualitative, doctrinal and analytical methodology to discuss the legal consequences a...

Studia Iuridica Lublinensia, 2021

International Journal of Public Law and Policy

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the world has witnessed astronomical advancement in scie... more Since the beginning of the 20th century, the world has witnessed astronomical advancement in scientific and technological innovations which have changed the face of modern society, leading many thinkers to term this present civilization 'the jet age'. This technological advancement has had enormous impact on the world's legal systems, disrupting traditional modes of protection of intellectual property, and has left the law completely in a state of flux, due to the ever changing forms of innovations; such as computers including palmtops and hi-tech phones, satellite and cable receivers/signals, facsimile transmissions and the perpetually growing internet. In Nigeria, the Copyright Act purports to protect intellectual property including digital innovations. Notwithstanding, the country remains the largest piracy destination and market in the world. This article examines the Nigerian Copyright Act with the view of identifying the inadequacies which account for the inability of the Act to accord adequate protection to digital inventions in the country. Attention is particularly paid to the problem of the skeletal nature of the Act with respect to the rights of innovators of digital technology and other shrewd and manifests ambiguities and contradictions contained in it. This article also reveals the technological shortcomings which have made it possible for infringers of digital inventions to assail the technology with impunity, and therefore make it impossible for our Copyright Act to live up to its mandate. Thus, in the fight against piracy and copyright infringements of digital innovations, this article strongly recommends extra-legal measures, such as administrative, social, judicial and technological, to tame the tide of an otherwise purely socio-legal problem. If we never do anything which has not been done before, we shall never get anywhere, the law will stand still whilst the rest of the world goes on and that will be bad for both.

It is trite that sovereignty belongs to the people. Thus, the realization that the donors of powe... more It is trite that sovereignty belongs to the people. Thus, the realization that the donors of power: The people or the citizens have some rights against the state, and the need to respond to their desires and demands by satisfying them, ensured the enshrine-ment of citizens' rights in the constitution as either fundamental rights or fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. This paper examined the incorporation of the second class of rights in the constitutions of developing democracies such as Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone with a view of searching the rationale and jurisprudence of their incorporation in view of their non-enforceable status. It found that the continuous non-enforceability of fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy in the constitutions of these countries render them more of a democratic demagoguery incapable of furthering the aims of good gover-nance and sustainable development anchored on the social contract between the government and the governed. The paper however recommended that Nigerian court should adopt the posture of judicial activism in interpreting the rights contained in Chapter two of the constitution to bring them in consonance with the civil and political rights, which are enforceable.