Perspectives and Limits of Judicial Discretion in Nigerian Courts

Abstract

The paper examines the judicial power of discretion, the meaning, the perspective of the use, and certain legally stipulated limitations to the exercise of the power by judges; by asking the question of whether in certain circumstances, where the laws fail to provide definite solutions for matters before the court, and the courts embark on interpolation in other to identify and apply related concepts and rules to arrive at a decision, amounts to making laws?, A fact which judges often deny, yet seldom create  fresh rules and theories in order to fill the vacuum left by legislation. After all, a court would not simply throw out a case simply because there is no law that directly regulates the subject for which the court is called upon to decide.