Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T18:22:12.173Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

35 - Comparative Indigenous Law

from Part IV - Comparative Law beyond the State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2024

Mathias Siems
Affiliation:
European University Institute, Florence
Po Jen Yap
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
Get access

Summary

States in sub-Saharan Africa struggle to manage the multiple legal orders bequeathed by European colonialism. This struggle is partly attributable to poor consideration of indigenous African values by policymakers. Values are useful because they distinguish social habits from the sense of obligation that gives law its normative character. Since the foundational values of indigenous laws reflect the welfare-oriented origins of indigenous laws, they illumine how Africans adjust to modern conditions, as well as the adaptive character of legal pluralism in Africa. However, not much is known about these values in the courts, in contradiction with the prominence that jurists accord to constitutional values. This chapter compares how African legal frameworks reflect the values of indigenous laws in Kenya, Nigeria, Somaliland, and South Africa. It finds that judges and legislators adopt jurispathic approaches to the regulation of indigenous laws, and suggests that reliance on the values of indigenous laws could promote their harmonisation with statutory laws.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×