Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One The Nature and Future of Customary Law
- Part Two Ascertainment, Application, and Codification of Customary Law
- 4 The Quest for Customary Law in African State Courts
- 5 The Withering Province of Customary Law in Kenya
- 6 Putting Old Wine in New Wine Skins
- 7 Traditional Authorities
- 8 Engaging Legal Dualism
- 9 The Future of Customary Law in Ghana
- Part Three The Role and Power of Traditional Authorities
- Part Four Customary Land, Property Rights, and Succession
- Part Five Customary Criminal Law
- Part Six Customary Law, Human Rights, and Gender Equality
- Index
- References
7 - Traditional Authorities
Custodians of Customary Law Development?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One The Nature and Future of Customary Law
- Part Two Ascertainment, Application, and Codification of Customary Law
- 4 The Quest for Customary Law in African State Courts
- 5 The Withering Province of Customary Law in Kenya
- 6 Putting Old Wine in New Wine Skins
- 7 Traditional Authorities
- 8 Engaging Legal Dualism
- 9 The Future of Customary Law in Ghana
- Part Three The Role and Power of Traditional Authorities
- Part Four Customary Land, Property Rights, and Succession
- Part Five Customary Criminal Law
- Part Six Customary Law, Human Rights, and Gender Equality
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Many lawyers still have difficulties accepting that customary law is not static, but changes, even is changed in the communities in which it is applied. The widely made reference to the Roman law perception of customary law, according to which one criterion to distinguish customary law from customs is the continued observation of the first over time, is unable to explain the dynamics inherent in customary law recorded by legal sociologists and anthropologists. It is only recently that South African courts have acknowledged that the living law of communities differs from what has been reported to be the official customary law. These courts have opted to recognize the living law over the official version.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Future of African Customary Law , pp. 153 - 169Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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