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Electronic Commerce Transaction In Nigeria: A Critical Legal Literature Review
Abstract
This paper conducts a critical legal literature review on e-commerce transaction issues in Nigeria. The paper focuses much on pressing legal issues concerning data protection of e-consumers and unfair trade practices exhibited by unscrupulous e-traders. The paper also examines issues concerning consumer protection institutions with a view to assessing their effectiveness in protecting consumers in the country. The paper adopts a doctrinal research methodology in achieving its objective. The paper reveals that e-commerce contributes immensely to the global economy. That Nigeria stands to derive a lot of economic benefits from e-commerce transactions. That unfair trade practices and data protection as well as institutional problems pose a serious threat to the Nigeria consumers who desire to utilise the Internet for commercial transactions. The paper, therefore, recommends a systematic legislative reform that will address online data protection and unfair trade practices problems in the country. The paper also recommends holistic reforms in the institutional infrastructure for e-commerce and consumer protection in the country.
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This study focuses on the issues and challenges relating to consumerism and consumer protection in Nigeria, with particular attention to the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) Act 2004. Evidences from available literature indicate that consumerism in Nigeria, like in most Less Developed Countries has remained at the lowest ebb in spite of the prevalence of unwholesome business practices. The Nigerian consumer is thus continuously saddled with substandard goods and services, coupled with the lack of information and limited choice in the market, thus necessitating political/government efforts. In This study, it was observed that although the CPC Act recognized the rights of consumers, it does not specifically provide for these rights as they are merely implied and subsumed into the functions of the council and the state committees established by the Act. We therefore conclude that mere existence of the law is not enough. Specific protective and compensatory measures should be clearly stated for any infringement on any of the consumers' rights. Doing so would strengthen the CPC Act in Nigeria. Further the Consumer Protection Council need to embark on sustained sensitization of consumers on their rights and also push for the amendment of specific sections of the CPC Act to give aggrieved consumers unfettered access to courts to pursue their rights.
The discussion in the article centres around some agencies established and charged with the responsibility of protecting the consumer in Nigeria. The laws set out to ensure the protection of the consumer and the institutions are examined with a view to determine how effective they are in protecting consumer. Of great importance is the space given to the analysis of the courts' attitude in Nigeria in consumer cases.
Personal information or personally identifiable data is a subject that people have become aware of the need to protect. And the challenge of legislating for data protection in today's world is that which many nations have taken seriously. Nigeria as a developing nation appears not to be left out of this as the NITDA has released a set of guidelines in this regard as a means to offer some protection. This article examines legislations on the Nigerian landscape that resemble data protection legislation like the Official Secrets Act, the Freedom of Information Act and the most recent NITDA Draft Guidelines for data protection with a view to show the adequacy or otherwise. The guidelines were examined in some detail. The paper summarily compares the present landscape with the European Union standard and concludes that Nigeria does not have adequate data protection legislation. The paper concludes that strong legislation is desirable to protect personal data in Nigeria.
The Internet has no doubt added a great deal to the quality of human life today. It has knitted the world together as a global village. Many difficulties which hampered international and even national commercial transactions in the past have now been consigned to the dust-bin of history. The emergence of electronic commerce is as a result of the creation of the internet, through which commercial transactions are conducted between parties from different parts of the world and who may never see themselves in their lifetimes. However, the emergence of electronic commerce has also brought with it a number of legal and socio-economic problems, especially in the developing nations such as Nigeria – problems which pose significance challenges to the legal regime of electronic commerce in those countries. This paper examines these legal issues within the context of the current legal and regulatory framework for electronic commerce in Nigeria.
This paper discussed doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research to show researchers how to write with understanding regarding the advantages, disadvantages, and the comparisons between doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research. Thus, the combination of methodologies, i.e., a mixed method using ideological, social, and legal, can work together to achieve a better understanding of the law.
This paper explains the legal critical literature review in the critical context of the logic of scholarship. The paper asks what makes a critical literature review effective in research. It suggests that critical literature reviews are effective in research when they more easily allow the identification of research gaps, in the specified context. The methodology employs cumulative synthesis from the relevant materials, following Bentham’s ideas on synthesis, that analysis opposes both generalisation and synthesis. The paper begins its argument by outlining the nature of a critical literature review. Then, it proceeds with a review of key terms required by the writer. Following this essential background, the paper discusses literature gaps and literature search methodologies. Then it moves on to the ideal format of a critical literature review. Finally, argument deals with the purpose of a critical literature review and techniques for writing the critical literature review. A legal critical literature review will be maximally effective when it sets a correct context for research, identifies fallacies in the scholarship in order to discover research gaps, and then forms this outcome into a central research question.
Keywords: legal critical literature review, research gaps, fallacies, research question
The present thesis argues that the current Jordanian legal frameworks are insufficiently developed to provide an adequate level of consumer protection to redress the imbalance of power between parties in electronic commerce consumer contracts. This argument is triggered due to the Jordanian legislation placing great emphasis on the freedom of contract principle to govern all types of contracts, regardless of whether one of the contracting parties suffers from an inequality of bargaining power. This principle does not serve consumer protection as consumer contracts are usually presented on a take-it-or-leave-it basis where a consumer has no realistic bargaining opportunity. On the other hand, such a principle does not allow the legislature to intervene in the contract in order to redress that imbalance. By depending on the freedom of contract principle, Jordanian legislation has, to a large extent, failed to provide consumers with an acceptable level of protection.
This subject will be analysed and discussed alongside European Union legislation in order to illustrate the existing weaknesses in the legal frameworks in Jordan in relation to consumer contracts.
After concluding the legal analysis and determining the weaknesses in Jordanian law, the thesis will provide an empirical study to measure the impact of the lack of consumer protection law on the growth of electronic commerce in Jordan. This empirical study, which has been conducted by way of a questionnaire survey, has revealed that one of the factors that prevents consumers engaging in e-commerce activities, and which undermines their confidence, is their perception of the protection provided by the law.
This thesis concludes that basic consumer protection, which aims to rebalance the power in Business-to-Consumer contracts, is essential for consumer confidence and the development of e-commerce in Jordan. There is a positive correlation between purchasing online and the protective measures selected in this thesis (i.e. information requirements, protection from unfair contract terms and consumer rights). Therefore, a comprehensive model has been suggested in order to fill the gap in the Jordanian legislation.
Having the ability to produce independent research is critically important at the postgraduate level. Producing a quality research paper requires advanced skills in conceptualising the project, identifying a pertinent methodology, project planning, analysis and synthesis of ideas from the literature, together with good writing skills. This 4th edition outlines the 12 steps in this process.
It includes an updated legal research guide. The inclusion of research checklists for several international jurisdictions such as the European Union, China and India, serves to acknowledge our reliance in broader international and comparative perspectives in pursuing research in the current century.
The recently passed Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and the Electronic Transactions Bill 2015 which is currently awaiting presidential assent represent giant strides in the facilitation of electronic transactions in Nigeria. The Bill, if passed into law, could help to address certain issues affecting electronic transactions in Nigeria. However, a lot of work still needs to be done to provide the desired framework for electronic transactions in Nigeria.