A Critical Examination of Major Changes Heralded by the Nigerian Evidence Act 2011

Before the enactment of the Evidence Act 2011, there was a myriad of calls by Legal Practitioners, Judges and other stakeholders in the justice sector for a repeal of the old Evidence Act which was enacted in 1945. The said 1945 Act did not undergo any major amendment prior to the coming into effect of the Evidence Act 2011. The obsolete nature of the old Evidence Act thus made it impossible for the Nigerian legal system to draw from the inestimable benefits inherent in the various advancements in information and communications technologies. In order to answer the said calls for a repeal or amendment of the 1945 Evidence Act, the Nigerian federal legislature, the National Assembly in exercise of its law ? making powers under Section 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), recently repealed the 1945 Act and enacted a new Evidence Act 2011.On 3rd June, 2011, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan assented to the new Evidence Act 2011, thus bringing into operation a new legal order in the law and practice of evidence in Nigeria. This paper is devoted to highlighting or bringing to the front burner the major far - reaching changes brought about by the 2011 Act.