With a view to showing that courts do not have the power to validate native law and custom, this article highlights the different roles assigned to the assent of the people governed by native law and custom, and to the court called upon to determine its judicial enforceability. It argues that customary law is validated by the assent of the people and not by courts, and that the tests contained in different statutes by which courts are permitted to intervene in the regime of customary law are tests of enforceability and not tests of validity. As a result, it argues that the term “validity test” is misleading when used in relation to the power of courts to determine the enforceability of native law and custom, and should therefore be discarded.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚习惯法的有效性和可执行性：对法院省的正确划定

为了表明法院无权验证当地法律和习俗，本文强调了分配给受当地法律和习俗管辖的人民的同意以及被要求确定其司法可执行性的法院的不同角色. 它争辩说，习惯法是通过人民的同意而不是法院来生效的，并且允许法院干预习惯法制度的不同成文法中所包含的测试是对可执行性的测试，而不是对有效性的测试。因此，它认为“有效性测试”一词在与法院确定当地法律和习俗的可执行性的权力有关时具有误导性，因此应予以摒弃。