A Legal Appraisal of Cybersecurity Challenges in The Resolution of Trade Disputes in Nigeria
Iwunze, Ireju Pamela
Abstract
The rapid digitisation of global commerce, accelerated by electronic contracts, digital trade platforms, cloud computing, and technology-assisted dispute resolution, has fundamentally transformed the landscape of commercial dispute settlement in Nigeria. While digital filing, virtual court proceedings, online dispute resolution (ODR), and electronic arbitration offer unprecedented procedural speed and cost efficiency, they simultaneously expose the administration of commercial justice to unprecedented cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This article undertakes a comprehensive, doctrinal, and comparative legal appraisal of the cybersecurity challenges affecting the resolution of trade disputes in Nigeria. It critically evaluates whether Nigeria's existing legal, regulatory, and procedural framework, principally anchored on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention) Act 2015 (as amended in 2024), the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, the Evidence Act 2011 (as amended), and the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023, adequately safeguards the integrity, confidentiality, availability, authenticity, and final enforceability of trade dispute proceedings. Through a comparative analysis with South Africa and the United Kingdom, the article identifies critical statutory, procedural, and institutional gaps within the Nigerian legal ecosystem, particularly regarding the admissibility of compromised computer-generated evidence, the protection of commercially sensitive trade secrets during virtual hearings, and the cyber liability of legal practitioners, arbitrators, and court administrators. The article concludes that while Nigeria has established foundational cybercrime and data protection legislation, its procedural dispute resolution rules remain dangerously unequipped to address sophisticated cyber threats such as ransomware, Business Email Compromise (BEC), digital identity theft, and deepfake evidence manipulation. To prevent institutional breakdown and preserve commercial trust, the article proposes concrete statutory amendments to the Evidence Act 2011 and Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023, the promulgation of uniform National Judicial Council Practice Directions on Cybersecurity and Virtual Hearings, and the mandatory adoption of institutional cybersecurity protocols across courts and arbitral institutions.
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Keywords
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