THE RADIANT JUSTICE CHAMERS, OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY
WHAT "R" MEANS IN CASE CITATIONS
In English criminal proceedings, the letter "R" represents Regina/Rex, the Latin term for the Queen/King. this “R” refers to the Crown or the Commonwealth indicating that the Crown is the Plaintiff, depending on the monarch in power.
The letter "R" is a relic left over from the English system of which Nigerian law was adapted. Some legal cases make reference to the Old English cases, but few are actually aware of what they are and what they stand for. They hold a lot of weight in law as they have been tried, tested and used in the past and have served their purpose well.
Case citations are used extensively to identify past court case decisions, either in a series of books called reporters or law reports or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. They are also known as case names. It's important to fully understand the principle behind case citation and how it works. Case citations are formatted differently in different jurisdictions but generally contain the same key information.
Presently in Nigeria, criminal proceedings are still against the government but their citations are different depending on the hierarchy of the court. In Magistrate Courts, the complainant for criminal proceedings is the Commissioner of Police while in Higher Courts, the plaintiff can be The State, Attorney General of the relevant state, Attorney General of the Federation, Inspector General of Police, Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is to be noted that a suit may also be brought against these authorities'. For Example, Inusa Saidu v The State (1982) 4 SC 41, Inspector General of Police v Suara Sunmonu (1957) WRNLR 23, Federal Republic Of Nigeria V Alhaji Mika Anache (M) & Ors (2004) LCN/3183 (SC), Richard Ola Bello V. Commissioner Of Police (2019) LCN/13349 (CA).
Case law, or precedent, is the strongest form of legal authority. Case citations enable lawyers, judges and law students to pinpoint the decision that is being referred to, be it in a book or a looseleaf service. Knowing how to properly cite a case decision is vital for nearly all types of legal writing. The bottom line: cases are very frequently cited in legal writing because they frequently contain valuable precedent.
FROM THE DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH
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