The finality of judgments is fundamental to judicial certainty, but finality does not require a court to preserve an accidental error in a judgment where doing so would cause the written decision to misrepresent what the court actually determined.
Nigerian law therefore recognises limited circumstances in which a court may correct clerical mistakes, accidental slips, omissions, misnomers, and computational errors, provided such correction does not alter the substance of the decision.
This delicate balance is reflected in the doctrines of functus officio, the slip rule, and the inherent jurisdiction of the courts.
This article examines the scope and limits of a Nigerian court’s power to amend, correct, or vary its judgment after delivery.
It considers functus officio, its recognised exceptions, the slip rule, and the distinction between clerical or accidental errors and substantive errors arising from judicial reasoning or decision-making.
It also examines the courts’ inherent powers under section 6(6)(a) of the Constitution and clarifies when a judgment may be corrected and when the appropriate remedy is an appeal.
Functus Officio
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By: Oyetola Muyiwa Atoyebi SAN, FCIArb (U.K) (Notary Public)
Scientia potentia est
