African customary law is not one code but a family of legal traditions, each derived from the customs and practices of a particular indigenous group and varying by ethnic origin across the continent. Before colonization these systems operated informally, transmitted orally and enforced through community practice rather than written statute. Colonial administrations created Native Courts that gave customary law a formal, if subordinated, place within the colonial legal order, and the systematic written codification of what had been unwritten law came only after decolonization. Customary law today continues to govern personal-status matters, land disputes and succession within the communities that observe it, valued in part because its own philosophy emphasizes reconciliation, social justice and the restoration of relationships within the group rather than punishment alone. Its place alongside the statutory and religious law that postcolonial states inherited varies by country: Kenya, for example, abolished customary criminal law where it conflicted with the inherited British common law while preserving customary rules governing marriage.
Facts
Partially Attested
Example JurisdictionsKenya is the only country the source names; it has abolished customary criminal law but retains offences around marriage relations. Primary Source of LawTraditional customs and practices of the various indigenous groups of Africa 1 Connections
In Legal System
Legal-system family: Customary Law Systems, following the CIA World Factbook and JuriGlobe comparative-law family classification.
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Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Law in Africa (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Law in Africa (Wikipedia)
Introduction
Africa's fifty-six sovereign states range widely in their history and structure, and their laws are variously defined by customary law, religious law, common law, Western civil law, other legal traditions, and combinations thereof. Prior to the colonial era in the nineteenth century, Africa's legal system was dominated by the traditional laws of the native people. The efforts to maintain the indigenous practices against the rising Continental European and Great British powers, though unsuccessful, provoked the development of existing customary laws via the establishment of 'Native Courts'.
Customary Law, sentence on Kenya
Kenya has abolished its customary criminal laws, retaining only offenses surrounding marriage relations, due to inconsistencies with the British common law system.
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