The Nigerian Legal System is modelled after the English legal system, by virtue of colonisation and the reception of English law through the process of legal transplant. English Common Law and legal tradition influenced the development of the Nigerian legal system.
As the grundnorm, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) is the bedrock of the Nigerian Legal system. It provides the ultimate principles and rules upon which other statutes and laws obtain their validity and legitimacy. Other sources of Nigerian laws are Acts of the National Assembly, received English Laws, subsidiary legislations, customary laws, judicial precedents and international law.