Abstract

This paper looks at the relevance of archiving to legal education; especially in the area of case laws, differentiation of issues in a case, legal precedents and critiquing skills. It addresses the method of imparting legal knowledge which teaches law without including the indigenous background surrounding issues and principles of law; for a proper connection between the past and the present. It shows that legal education can never be complete if there is no recourse to indigenous historical background that connects legal precedents, using it to explain and differentiate legal principles; thereby portraying the essence of Archives as evidential by-products that provides precedents that could show when an issue in the past has re occurred; and thus provide information on legal steps to follow in the present. This, in effect, show that archives has the prospects of providing a new paradigm to legal education in the area of legal precedence, review of laws, foreknowledge of effects of laws and societal norms. Thereby producing a well educated lawyer who is able to handle confidently issues in any case and challenge extant laws based on its effect on the indigenous society. This paper shows how the principles of provenance, original order, access and appraisal of information could be applied in Nigerian legal education.

Key words: Archives, Law archives, Nigerian Law Library, legal records, legal services, legal education and legal precedent.