A Legal Analysis of the Pre-Colonial Igbo Peoples’ Perspective to Criminal Justice

Abstract

Research shows that whereas the intuition against criminality is of universal human nature, the approach of a particular society to criminal justice administration may differ from that of other societies. According to the legal pragmatism theory, the customs, beliefs and historical circumstances of a people are relevant to judicial reasoning as well as judicial approach to crime resolution. Against this background, this research carefully examines the pre-colonial Igbo society and finds that the society had its own peculiar criminal justice system by which criminal disputes were resolved. This article therefore seeks to analyze the Igbo people’s mindset on the twin issues of crime and justice. In aid of this analysis, the researcher will discuss the Igbo customary judicial procedures, such as mediation, criminal arbitration, oath taking, and trial by ordeal as well as important customary practices such as igba afa (divination), igba ndu (covenant/bonds) and ikpu aru (purification). Notwithstanding the criticism of some of these practices in terms of human rights issues, procedural accountability, etc, the researcher argues that Igbo criminal justice procedures and practices are characterized by social harmony, flexibility, social pressure, and strong religious beliefs.