Law of Namibia

Namibia has a hybrid or mixed legal system formed by the interweaving of several distinct legal traditions: a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous African peoples, of which there are many variations by tribal origin. English influence is most apparent in procedural matters and methods of adjudication, while Roman-Dutch influence is most visible in substantive private law: Namibia generally follows English law in criminal and civil procedure, company law, constitutional law and the law of evidence, while Roman-Dutch civil law governs contract law, the law of delict, the law of persons, the law of things and family law. The interim Constitution of 1994 and the final Constitution of 1997 added a further constitutional strand to this mix. Namibian law, especially its civil law and common law elements, also forms the basis of the laws of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, introduced during the colonial period: Basutoland (Lesotho) received the law of the Cape Colony in 1884, Bechuanaland (Botswana) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) received it in 1891, Swaziland (Eswatini) received the law of the Transvaal Colony in 1904, and South West Africa (Namibia) received the law of the Cape Province in 1920 after its conquest by South Africa. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/