A Conceptual Framework for Regulating Customary Law within Pluralistic African States: Reassessing Justice Sector Reforms for Reconciling Legal Traditions

Abstract

Customary law and traditional institutions once constituted the comprehensive legal system regulating a wide spectrum of activities within African states. However, colonialism created a framework for the politics of legal dualism, which led to a process of transformation and shift in the nature of structures and practices of states. As such, now independent states are constantly trying to identify ways to sustain the cultural heritage reflected in customary laws and institutions, as they attempt to also function as modern democratic states. Scholars have highlighted the practical and structural changes that need to be made to ensure effective regulation of customary law. To this work, my paper provides a framework to supplement current judicial reforms within African states. I argue that for customary law to be effectively used as a mechanism for legal regulation within cultural communities, the current legal framework within African states needs to move beyond the idea of legal recognition and tolerance, to one that reconciles the complexities of different legal traditions.