Legal Systems
Customary Law
Also Known As Traditional Law
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Customary law is a legal system based on the long-established customs and traditions of a community, typically unwritten and passed down through oral tradition, and applied by community, tribal or traditional authorities. It remains formally recognized, often alongside an inherited colonial-era common or civil law system, across much of sub-Saharan Africa, in Pacific Island states, and within Indigenous legal systems recognized to varying degrees in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. Because customary law is generally unwritten and specific to each community, it resists the kind of single-origin dating the other legal system families in this atlas carry, and no single origin year is recorded for it here.
Facts
Example JurisdictionsMany sub-Saharan African nations; Pacific Island states such as Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu; Indigenous legal systems recognized within Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 1 Primary Source of LawLong-established community custom and oral tradition, applied by community or tribal authorities, often alongside an inherited common or civil law system. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Includes
The Act operates within Australia's common law system while formally recognizing native title held under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law and custom.
Ubuntu draws directly on indigenous Southern African customary-ethical philosophy received into South Africa's mixed legal system.
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