Novation of Contracts: Examining the Effects in Modern Information and Communication Technology Agreements (Published)
This paper explores the essence of novation as it affects the contracts for ICT and contractual rights in general before dealing with questions raised in the contracts in relation to the novation or assignment clauses. Novation is one of the mechanisms whereby parties can swap or assign duties and obligations under an existing contract to new parties. The paper points out recognized mechanisms of transferring obligations as well as analyses the presumed assignment of obligations by contrasting the position of the law in other jurisdictions under common law. The state of the law on the assignment or transfer of contractual obligations in Nigeria, owing to problems occurring under common law, statutory provisions and the drafting of assignment clauses and related documents, are curiously far from simple. The basic principle of contract law in Nigeria as seen through various judicial pronouncements therefore suggests that the assignment or transfer of contractual obligations are unclear. Unfortunately, the lack of an established system for contract law in Nigeria, as well as strong judicial precedents on the subject, can be due to several of these challenges. It is therefore the position of this paper that the principle of law concerning novation must be clarified to minimise the uncertainty in its application by parties and enforcement by the court.
Keywords: Assignment, Law of Contract, novation, privity of contract
Electronic Signature: Reviewing the Legal Issues on Its Validity and Authentication under Nigeria Law (Published)
Since the emergence of e-commerce in the nineties, security has become a significant barrier to its growth. Businesses and individuals involved in e-commerce must be able to place their trust and confidence in the identity of the other party, as well as in the integrity of any electronic messages received, to ensure that they have not been altered. Identification and authentication via an electronic signature provide both parties with assurances concerning the identity and the integrity of the message. From a legal perspective, the role of legislation in this context is to offer the necessary guarantees of a secure and trustworthy online transaction. This can be achieved through the recognition of electronic signatures and regulating the certification of service providers. This paper will consider the different forms of electronic signatures which exist, and the present legislation in Nigeria which deals with their recognition. It will also examine the legal effects and the adequacy of the present legal framework. Finally, it will conclude by discussing how the legislature in Nigeria can improve the present framework to meet the current international legal and technological standards which would enhance the validity and enforceability of electronic contracts that have been executed using electronic signatures by parties within Nigeria.
Keywords: Electronic Commerce, Electronic Contract, Law of Contract, digital signature, electronic signature
A Critical Analysis of the Validity and Enforceability of Electronic Contract in Nigeria: Need for Reforms (Published)
Technology revolution is always an ongoing process that introduces new challenges time to time to traditional means of doing things. One of the revolutions is in the area of commercial and contractual transaction is the rise of electronic contracts. This paper tackles the impact of the technology revolution in the general and the use of the Internet in particular on the formation, validity and enforcement of electronic contracts. It tackles the subject matter on a comparative basis and tries to answer whether or not the traditional contract law rules could handle the challenges, particularly due to the dearth of statutory legislation to clarify some of the issues and challenges. To conclude, almost all transactions and contracts, including first group as mentioned above, can be done in electronic form, but the validity of second group depends on the type of formalities.
Keywords: Electronic Commerce, Electronic Contract, Law of Contract
Incapacity of Parties and Invalidity of Arbitration Agreement as Grounds for Refusing Recognition and Enforcement in Kuwait (Published)
Arbitration agreement is one of the widely discussed laws of contract in law. Each and every country has specific rules and regulation which government had rules which govern the arbitration contract between the citizens and between the nation and other nations. Kuwait is one of such countries and it has faces a lot of challenges what it comes to arbitration law and sharia law until the time when New York Convention was incorporated and ratified in the process of administering justice in the Kuwait. The enforcement of the awards specifically has brought challenges until the NYC provided the grounds under which the enforcement of the awards may be rejected. The main objective of this paper is to discuss whether Incapacity of Parties and Invalidity of Arbitration Agreement as sufficient Grounds for Refusing Recognition and Enforcement in Kuwait. The paper is divided into five sections with first section giving introduction and definition of what is arbitration, the second part discusses the finality of the awards, thirdly it discuses the finality of the awards, fourthly the paper discuses the rejection of enforcement due to invalidity and incapacity and lastly the paper discusses the position of NYC position on the sufficiency of invalidity and incapacity as enough proof for non-enforcement and recognition of arbitration agreement as a result of invalidity and incapacity be for concludes with conclusion.
Keywords: Incapacity of Parties, Invalidity of Arbitration Agreement, Law of Contract