ARBITRAL PROCEEDINGS IN CUSTOMARY LAW1
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1957.tb01100.x |
| Published date | 01 April 1957 |
| Date | 01 April 1957 |
| Author | A. N. Allott |
9 6 JO UR NA L OF AF RIC AN ADM IN IST RA TIO N
A R BI TR A L P RO C EE DI NG S IN C US TO MA R Y LA W 1
S u gg e st io n s f o r a M o d e l O rd i na n ce
B y D r. A . N . A llo tt
Le ct ur er in A f ric a n L aw , Sc ho ol o f Or ie nta l a nd A fr ic a n St ud ies ,
U ni ve rs ity o f Lo n do n
Pa r t I. IN TR O DU CT IO N
Th e pr ovi sio ns in n ati ve c ou rt s o rdi nan ces de sign ed to dea l w ith uno ffic ial
an d ir reg ul ar pr oce ed ing s (“ arb it ra tio n u nd er cu st om ar y law ” ) a re usu ally
br ief an d, it is res pe ctf ully sub mi tte d, in ad eq ua te. F o r e xa mp le, s ect ion 26 of
th e Ta ng an yi ka L oca l C o ur ts O rdi nan ce , 1951 , m ak es it an offen ce for a pe rson
to ex erc ise o r a tt em p t t o e xerc ise jud ici al p ow ers exc ep t in ac co rda nce wi th
st a tu te ; b ut the re i s a pro vis o :—•
“ Pro vid ed , h ow eve r, t ha t n ot hin g in th is s ect ion sh all be de em ed t o
pr oh ib it an y c usto ma ry a rb itr at ion or s ett lem e nt by th e tri ba l eld ers i n any
m a tte r a risi ng o ut o f a ny m in or i nfr ing em en t of c us tom a ry la w if su ch
ar bi tra ti on o r s ett lem e nt is c ond uc ted i n t he m an ne r re cog ni sed by lo cal
cu st om ar y law .”
Si mil ar p rov isio ns a re f oun d in a n um be r of o the r n ati ve co urt s ord ina nc es
in o th er te rri tor ies , u nd er th e ti tle o f “ Usu rp ing J ud ici al P ow er s” , “ A dju di ca
tio n w ith ou t A u th or ity ” , etc . T he pr ovis ion s g en era lly ag ree in ba rri ng re
co urse t o the r eg ula r p roc ess of th e na tiv e co urt s f or the e nfo rc em ent of aw ar ds
m ade b y s uch cu sto m ar y a rb itr ato rs .
No w it ca n b e arg ue d (1) t h at th e se ttl em en t of p e tty m a tte rs in a cu sto m ary
m an ne r w it ho ut re cou rse to th e re gu lar na tiv e co ur ts is b ot h fre qu en t, an d
de sira ble , in Af ric an so cie ty ; (2) th a t the re a re, ho we ver , a n um b er of dan ger s
an d dra wb ac ks i n t he pr ese nt sys tem s of de ali ng wit h s uch pro ce edin gs ; (3) t ha t
b et ter reg ul ati ng m ac hin er y is th ere for e ca lle d for ; a nd (4) t ha t t he nee d for
su ch m ac hin er y w ill gro w m o re p re ssin g as th e di vor ce be tw een t rad iti on al
au th o rit y an d co ur t m em be rsh ip be com es m ore ob viou s. Fo r th ese rea son s
I offe r, v er y t en tat iv ely , th e f ollow ing mo del cla use s to go ve rn a rb itr al pr o
cee din gs. i a m w ell a wa re t ha t t he dr af tin g of l egis lat ion is a h igh ly s kill ed
an d tec hn ica l a rt , a nd th a t c on diti ons v ary in dif fer ent ter rit or ies ; b ut my
su gge sti ons m ay be of s ome ser vice , a t l eas t i n in dic at ing th e w ay in whi ch
leg isl atio n m ig ht u sef ully b e fr am ed.
As to m y fir st po int , a rb itr al pr oce edi ngs w ere an d are of fr equ en t occ urre nce
in Af ric an l aw. Th ey fall in to th e t wo m ain cla sses : do me sti c, an d ex tr a
do me stic . Dom es tic or fa mi ly pr oce edi ngs in clu de su ch m at te rs as th e in ve sti
ga tio n o f a d isp ut e be tw een fam ily -m em be rs ; t he sel ecti on o f a su cce sso r to
th e p rop er ty o f a dec eas ed m em ber , or t he d ist rib ut io n of suc h pr op er ty ; t he
ap po in tm en t o f a n ew h ea d o f th e f am ily ; a dju st m en t of far mi ng a nd re si
de nt ial ri gh ts ; qu es tion s r el atin g to m arr iag e a nd di vor ce. Ex tra -d om es tic
pr oce edi ngs i ncl ude t ho se wh ere c o ns titu te d au th or ity is inv ok ed in t he s et tle
m en t of a di sp ute , a nd a w hole ho st o f pe tt y a rra ng em en ts an d n ego tia tion s
wh ich m ay t ak e p lace or b e m ad e w ith ou t t he int er ven ti on of a t hi rd pa rty ,
or w it h th e a ssis tan ce o f alm os t an y p ers on o f p res tig e or a u tho ri ty w ho m ay
'T he m a nu sc rip t o f th is art icl e w as con sid er ed b y th e J ud ic ia l A dv ise rs’ C onfe ren ce
a t Jo s, N o rth e rn N ig eria , in N o ve mb er 1956, a n d re fer enc e sh ou ld be m a de t o ch ap te r I*
of p ar t I I of th e rec or d of t he C on fere nc e— pu bli sh ed as a sp eci al su pp le me nt to th e Journal
o f A fr ic a n A d m in is tr a tio n , A pr il 19 57.
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