The Non-Compellability Of Competent Witnesses In Nigeria

Akademische Arbeit aus dem Jahr 2021 im Fachbereich Jura - Zivilprozessrecht, Note: 5.0, University of Lagos (Law), Veranstaltung: Law, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: "Competence" and "compellability" are two distinct terminologies as far as the law of evidence is concerned in relation to witnesses. Distinguished Professor Osipitan SAN differentiated the two in the following words: “Competence deals with the status of a witness to testify in court proceedings while Compellability deals with the powers of the court to force/compel a competent witness to attend court proceedings purposely to testify or tender (a) document(s)”. It follows that for a person to be compellable to testify in court, he must first qualify as a competent witness.