Domestic Legal Pluralism and the International Criminal Court : The Case of Shari'a Law in Nigeria

"This book explores how the unique historical development of Islamic Shari'a criminal law alongside English common law in northern Nigeria has created a hybridised criminal legal system through a pluralist dynamic of mutual accommodation. It studies how this system may potentially be accommodated by the International Criminal Court. The work examines how this could be accommodated through the current understanding and operation of complementarity, and that it could ultimately prove to be preferable in encouraging the Shari'a courts to exercise criminal justice over the radical insurgents in northern Nigeria. These courts would have the unprecedented ability to combine binding adjudicative judgments together with religious interpretation and guidance, which can directly combat the predominantly unchallenged domain of ideology by extremist actors. It is submitted that these pluralist perspectives are timely and welcome, given the undeniably Western European foundations of modern International Criminal Law. In exploring such potential avenues, our shared understanding of modern international criminal justice is widened to necessarily include other stakeholders beyond its Western founders. It is the aim and hope that such interactions and engagements with non-Western traditions and cultures will lead to a greater shared ownership of the international criminal justice project, which will only strengthen the global fight against impunity. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of International Criminal Law, Legal Pluralism, Islamic Shari'a Law, Nigeria, and religiously-inspired violence"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Glossary Introduction Methodology The need for legal pluralism in ICL The current boundaries of legal pluralism in ICL Domestic legal pluralism in Nigeria Dynamics of mutual accommodation Chapter summaries 1 Pluralism in international criminal law Paradigmatic shift within ICL – involuntary unilateralism to voluntary treaty law International military tribunals of Nuremberg and Tokyo The ad-hoc tribunals of the United Nations The International Criminal Court Current legal pluralism scholarship in international criminal law Horizontal pluralism Vertical pluralism Third World approaches to international law Conclusion 2 Legal pluralism and Shari’a law Classical legal pluralism New legal pluralism The semi-autonomous social field of Shari’a law Islamic Shari’a law ( شريعة) The challenges posed by Shari’a law to legal pluralism Sources of Shari’a law Flexibility of the Shari’a Shari’a criminal law Hudud crimes Qisas crimes Ta’zir crimes Shari’a law and the ICC Conclusion 3 History of legal pluralism in Nigeria First critical juncture – colonial Second critical juncture – colonial Shari’a civil jurisdiction Third critical juncture – Nigerian Independence Fourth critical juncture – post-colonial Fifth critical juncture – the Fourth Republic Sixth critical juncture – mutual accommodation Common law inactivity Shari’a conformity Potential for the revival of subjugation – fragility Conclusion 4 Boko Haram and Shari’a violence in Nigeria Sectarian violence and the dynamics of subjugation and resistance Boko Haram and the 1999 legislations The continuing dynamics of common law subjugation The Terrorism Prevention Act Conclusion 5 The International Criminal Court in Nigeria The ICC situation in Nigeria Conclusion of Preliminary Examinations Complementarity Case: same person/same conduct? Domestic proceedings in Nigeria Shari’a prosecutions of Islamic terrorism? Shari’a criminal legislations Specific advantages of Shari’a proceedings Challenges Conclusion Conclusion First finding Second finding Third finding References Academic journals Books Book chapters Case law International Nigerian Internet sources Legislation International Nigerian Shari’a Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code as cited in Ostien, Philip, Sharia Implementation in Northern Nigeria 1999–2006: A Sourcebook (Spectrum Books Ltd 2007) chapters 4, 5 Magazines/News articles Reports Index