What is it about?

I criticise dominant explanations of living customary law for failing to account for this law’s flexibility and emergence. I argue that living customary law is best understood as a product of people's adaptation of customs to socio-economic changes. I suggest that this definition could form a foundation for the integration of received colonial laws with African customary law.

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Why is it important?

My critique removes the ambiguity in living customary law’s meaning, suggests how this law should be discovered, and highlights why poor policy attention on people’s adaptation of customs to modern conditions causes hardship to women and younger male children in postcolonial societies.

Perspectives

I believe this article broadens understanding of the relationship between law and social change in postcolonial societies.

Professor Anthony C. Diala
University of the Western Cape

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This page is a summary of: The concept of living customary law: a critique, The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, May 2017, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/07329113.2017.1331301.
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