Commercial Law Research Network Nigeria (CLRN_N)

CLRN_N is proposed to influence the future reform of commercial law in Nigeria, as well as to provide an ecosystem through which interdisciplinary research can be generated. It invites researchers to examine the effectiveness of commercial law reform in the global South, using Nigeria as a case study. Nigeria has sought to modernise its laws for many reasons, including meeting international standards, as well as promoting the development of its economy. Similar to its counterparts, the reforms have been achieved largely through transplants; with the common law of England and Wales being the main source of transplants because of the colonial history between both countries. It is important to consider the effectiveness of the reforms that have been made, particularly as critics of legal transplants argue that they tend to be ineffective where they do not address the realities of the recipients. (Pistor et. al., 2000) Transplants are a method through which laws diffuse across nations. Law does not diffuse only from the global north to the south. It generally diffuses across countries that are at par also. (Twinning, 2004). Thus, the problem is not diffusion; it is with the misfit where the local realities have not been duly considered and addressed. It is therefore important that countries from the global south articulate the realities that characterise their systems; thereafter creatively determine whether and/or how to adapt modern institutions to suit their contexts.

To understand the commercial law realities of Nigeria, it is necessary that well-versed researchers interrogate the Nigerian context using inter-disciplinary research methods ranging from the theoretical to the empirical. They must critical examine the the historical, socio-economic and political contexts of the Nigerian commercial sphere. To ensure that the realities are appropriately understood and recommendations are rigorous enough to achieve their purpose, the network will also engender discussions between researchers and key stakeholders involved in the enactment and enforcement of the Nigerian commercial law through round-table discussions. Thereafter, a determination can be made about the effectiveness of reforms in each aspect of commercial law and recommendations made on the future direction of research and commercial law policy. This collaborative approach also ensures that there will be sustained dialogues with the stakeholder groups on the recommendations made. The outcomes will be relevant for Nigeria, as institutions in its commercial sphere will be rigorously assessed. They will also hold relevance beyond Nigeria. They are relevant to the debate on legal transplants which is of interest globally, as well as those interested in the development of the common law, as they show how its principles can be adapted to the context of countries from the global south.

Finally, the network also provides a forum at which to develop the research emanating from the global south. Trubek (2014) has stated that one of the principal problems the global south faces in the quest for development is the inadequate quality of the research it generates. To improve on the rigour of research generated from a prominent country in the global south such as Nigeria, the network will organise workshops at which research methods are discussed and taught. The forum provided by the network will enable established researchers to discuss the possibility of collaborations, as well as the methods which are sophisticated enough to interrogate the realities of the global south with their peers. The network however places emphasis on the training of early career researchers, many of whom have been trained only on descriptive, black-letter analysis. These researchers will be enlightened on the value and utility of inter-disciplinary methods; the ultimate goal being to ensure that there will be an expansion of rigorous research emanating from the global south in the future

Stakeholder engagement is one of the fundamental goals of the network. The network is interested in bringing together those who are affected by commercial law and policy, including entrepreneurs and finance providers, those who implement the laws including practitioners and regulatory agencies, with those who make the laws and policies. Groups to be invited include commercial actors like the Manufacturers' Association of Nigeria, Bank of Industry, Lagos Chamber of Commerce, small and large scale farmers, as well as bankers and representatives of professional advisers like the Business Recoveries and Insolvency Practitioners' Association of Nigeria, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Bar Association. Representatives of these groups will engage with policy-makers including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Corporate Affairs Commission.

The stakeholders will meet at the Stakeholders' Conference which is a round-table event at which each theme outlined in the Case for Support will have a discussion session involving representatives of the invited groups and facilitated by the key participants who have all agreed to be present. This scale of stakeholder engagement is unusual in the Nigerian reform process which typically witnesses law-making devoid of stakeholder participation. Given that the laws will only be effective if they are useful to those it regulates, it is important that they are engaged with the reform process and can outline the nature of their challenges and proffer suggestions for reforms to the policy-makers. The presence of the key participants is important to the process because they provide clear conceptual understanding and suggestions on how to adapt international best practices to the Nigerian commercial sphere. While the key participants have engaged with various stakeholders in their areas of expertise, given their interdisciplinary approach to research, the support of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) will be invaluable in ensuring this breadth of high-level stakeholders. NIALS has agreed to host the stakeholders' conference in its Lagos premises, providing conference rooms and audio-visual support.

Each theme listed in the Case for Support, will identify agreed policy directions which may be areas in which more research is necessary or additional changes which will be required to the law going forward. These will be written up as short policy papers which will be disseminated to all participating stakeholder groups following the conference. The policy papers are important to impact monitoring going forward. They will serve as the basis for sustained stakeholder dialogue with various stakeholder groups going forward. To sustain dialogue, stakeholder representatives will be interviewed about their experiences, as well as the reasons why the agreed changes will be necessary. These interviews will be disseminated through the network's website. The policy papers will also be useful in tracking the changes which have been implemented. The PI will invite key participants to write a short piece on changes which have been made in their fields in a series called Reform Check. This will be an annual series which will be published through the network's website Finally, the policy papers will be important to writing the final report at the end of the project, as the PI will be able to gauge how much influence the network has had by the amount of policy changes that have been effected.