Recognising traditional marriages: pluralismo ordinamentale, diritto e giustizia nell’Africa coloniale

Customary Law and Legal Pluralism in African Colonial Systems

Abstract

Abstract: Customary Law and Legal Pluralism in African Colonial Systems – The article attempts to examine the possible relationship between legal pluralism and the search of justice, placing as a key to understanding the discipline of matrimonial institution in the countries of colonial Africa. First of all, analyzing the extent of legal pluralism in these countries, we will move on to analyzing the double matrimonial discipline brought about by customary law, on the one hand, and imported law, on the other, and then arrive at the recognition of how legal pluralism can be an aggregating factor of the legal systems analyzed.
Keywords: African Law; Colonial Policy; Legal Pluralism; Customary Law; Family Law.