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This report is part of CRIN's access to justice for children project, looking at the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in national law, the status of children involved in legal proceedings, the legal means to challenge violations of children’s rights and the practical considerations involved in challenging violations.
Nigeria has ratified the CRC, but the Convention plays a limited role in the national legal system. The courts can use the CRC as a guide to interpreting national law, but do not do so systematically. Children are generally required to act through a guardian ad litem in legal proceedings, though in exceptional circumstances, the court can permit children to instruct their own lawyers and parental consent is not formally required to bring proceedings. The Child Rights Act (CRA) has incorporated some of the CRC's principles at the federal level and has introduced Local Government Child Rights Implementation Committees to initiate action to defend children's rights, but the impact of the Act has been restricted by the failure of many Nigerian states to enact the CRA at the state level.
