Examining Judicial Decisions on the Terms Case Stated and Reference on Constitutional Questions in A Common Law Jurisdiction

Abstract

The library is to a lawyer what a laboratory is to a scientist. While conducting research in the library, a lawyer sometimes may come across legal terms, the meaning and use of which he must be certain about so as not to convey another meaning other than the one, he has in mind to his audience or reader. Legal terms and expressions sometimes could be synonymous and to the unwary legal researcher to be the same. An example of this are the terms ‘Case stated’ and ‘Reference on constitutional questions. The objective of this paper is to highlight the similarities and differences if any between the two legal terms and its data is derived from specific decided cases from the common law jurisdiction of Nigeria which would be used in pursuit of its stated objective.