A Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of the Outbreak of Covid-19 on Selected Legal Rights in Nigeria (Published)
There is no gain saying the fact that the outbreak of the corona virus; which spread over the globe like wide fire; is the worst calamity that has hit mankind since the second war. The virus, otherwise tagged Covid-19 has infected so many people and caused several deaths all over the world. This awful pandemic has affected not just lives; but all spheres of human endeavours ranging from the health sector to food and agriculture, migration and tourism, education, international commerce, environment and legal rights; to mention but a few. This paper critically examined the effect of the pandemic on some selected basic and constitutional rights with Nigeria as the focal geographical scope of the study, while drawing comparative analysis from the developments in some other countries. Relying on the exploratory doctrinal methodology and secondary sources of information, the paper found that the pandemic has inhibited the full enjoyment of basic rights; including fundamental rights, a situation which citizens have been compelled to accept. The paper further found that this period has witnessed a high level abuse of human rights as well as some other legally cognized basic rights. The paper condemned total deprivation and violation of such rights under any guise and concluded by suggesting ways how this pandemic period could be managed with citizens continually enjoying their basic and constitutional rights.
Keywords: Violation, Virus, basic rights, fundamental rights, pandemic, vaccine
Functionality of The Dispute Settlement System: A World Trade Organization’s (Wto) Approach (Published)
There is no doubt that the continued trade interaction between States is bound to give rise to disputes. In this respect the provisions of Article 3.2 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing Settlement of Disputes provides that the dispute settlement system of the [World Trade Organization] is a central element in providing security and predictability of the multilateral trading system as presented in the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral trade Negotiations in 1999. This study is a probe into the functionality of the Dispute Settlement System. The paper describes the WTO dispute settlement system highlighting its objectives and its effectiveness. The study further looks into the bodies involved during the processes identifying their procedural roles. The implementation process and the Surveillance Stage is further examined to establish the System’s effectiveness. The author deems this paper relevant as it gives insight of how the Dispute Settlement System works.
Keywords: Complainant, Dispute Settlement, Violation, World Trade Organization
Role of Soft Law in Environmental Protection: An Overview (Published)
One of the key features of international law is the outstanding progress of law governing the environment in recent times. From a very reticent start with about no law at law, the global environmental law has developed an enormous complicated field encircling numerous treaties, declarations, general principles, and customary international law rules. It is not clandestine that this significant growth is due to a considerable extent, to the role played by the soft law instruments. Soft law is by its nature the enunciation of a norm in a non-binding written form and is considered to be the charters, resolutions, declarations or recommendations of world community that is not meant to be as binding as the international treaties. It is a core source of international law that has emerged and developed rapidly in the modern era of globalization, particularly to knob the sensitive issues, e.g., trade and commerce, protection of human rights, conservation of environment and so on. Though the idea of soft law has existed for years, scholars have attained at no consensus as to why do states regulate soft law or whether soft law is of a consistent logical category. To some extent, this perplexity replicates a profound diversity in the categories of global agreements and strategic situations that produce them. Despite it is accepted that soft law is a latent device in harmonizing the regime created by hard law and plays a key role in achieving fixed goals regarding the implementation of global environmental law. This article strives to provide a detailed definition of soft law as well as point outs its emergence and development. It also illustrates the legal status, impact, significance, and challenges of soft law. Furthermore, this research focuses on the role of soft law instruments in the conservation of global environment.
Keywords: Environment, Protection, Soft Law, Violation