BOOKS
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1955.tb00082.x |
| Date | 01 January 1955 |
| Published date | 01 January 1955 |
36
JOURNAL
OF AFRICAN ADMINISTRATION
Pakistan shows,
the
sharia cannot in these days be treated as immutable
and
there is a real necessity for change to meet altered social and economic
conditions as well as a more enlightened public opinion. One cannot generalise
on a subject such as this, which must be a
matter
for
the
decision of individual
legislatures,
but
your reviewer ventures to suggest
that
the ultimate aim should
be to restrict qadis' courts to matters such as were formerly dealt with by
ecclesiastical courts in England, e.g. succession, marriage, divorce and, in
view of its religions sanctions, waqf.
Appendices to works such as this are
not
infrequently ignored by the ordinary
reader
and
even by the reviewer,
but
the
author's Appendix dealing with
Islamic law as applied in
the
Sudan is a very valuable one. The same remarks
equally apply to those dealing with immigrant Muslim communities
and
brief
notes on certain points of Islamic law. Finally, there is a most careful and
informative glossary
at
the end of the book.
One learns
that
the
author has been asked to write a handbook on Islamic
law with special regard to its application in Africa.
It
is a very formidable
task,
but
after reading Islamic Law in Africa, one feels it could not be entrusted
to
better
hands.
BOOKS
1. D. CAMERON
and
B.
K.
COOPER. The West African Councillor. Oxford
University Press (London: Geoffrey Cumberlege); 1954; 7s.6d. ; pp. 160.
This handbook provides information of practical value to members of local
councils
and
all those interested in the administration of local affairs. The
authors are serving in Nigeria, one as a district officer, the other as adminis-
trative secretary of a native authority council.
A. L. EPSTEIN. Juridical Techniques and the Judicial Process: A Study in
African Customary Law. Rhodes-Livingstone Papers No. 23. Manchester
University Press, 1954;
6s.;
pp. vi +37.
In the modest compass of this little book Mr. Epstein gives us something
of real interest and importance. Amid the growing accumulation of published
material on African customary law
and
native courts, the study of the judicial
process itself (as distinct from both the substantive law
and
the external
aspects of court procedure) has hitherto been much neglected. This is perhaps
not
surprising, for such a
study
calls for an unusual combination of qualifi-
cations:
first, a knowledge of language and people sufficient to enable the
observer not only to follow the general tenor of the proceedings
but
to grasp
the finer points of evidence and
argument;
and, secondly, the ability to inter-
pret the results of his observations in accordance with the terms and concepts
of English law.
It
is evident
that
Mr. Epstein possesses these qualifications, for his analysis
of the judicial process in the urban native courts of Northern Rhodesia is
illustrated by copious extracts from the records which he made of numerous
cases, embodying not only the evidence of witnesses (mainly in the form of
question
and
answer),
but
also arguments, observations by members of the court,
and
the reasons given by the latter for their judgements. By the use of this
material he is able to give us some insight into
"the
various criteria
and
techniques by which the court arrives at an assessment of the
facts"
and some
idea of the concept of relevance by which it is guided. This leads on to an
examination of
the
basic concepts which are implicit in the courts'
decisions-
concepts such as wrong, injury,
duty
and reasonableness. Even under the
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