Customs, mores and culture in determining the scope of law and financial crime control – relevance of Savigny and Lord Denning’s analysis
| Pages | 1111-1122 |
| Published date | 01 October 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-09-2017-0083 |
| Date | 01 October 2018 |
| Author | Adeoye Johnson Adetunji |
Customs, mores and culture in
determining the scope of law and
financial crime control –relevance
of Savigny and Lord
Denning’s analysis
Adeoye Johnson Adetunji
Department of Law, University of London School of Advanced Study Institute of
Advanced Legal Studies, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role of customs and morality on financial crime
control in developing countries, against the background of inherited foreign laws and international best
practice.
Design/methodology/approach –The research is explanatory, descriptive and exploratory, relying
extensively on existing anti-graft journals, text books, decided cases, constitutional provisions, statutory
provisionsand United Nation Conventions.
Findings –The research findingsand analysis propose that the existing financial crime control measuresin
developing nations fail to consider localcustoms and circumstances in formulating anti-corruption policies
and laws; consequently,a meaningful and effective financial crime control in developingnations, especially in
Nigeria, requiresthe customs and culture to be examined andevaluated with a view to designing a pragmatic
policiesand laws.
Originality/value –The paper contributes practical options to observedlapses in the existing financial
control laws, especiallycorruption. The paper will be valuable to AfricanGovernments, corporations and the
academiccommunity.
Keywords Natural law, Morality, Financial crime, Common law, Custom, Repugnancy test,
Universal morality, Relative moralim, Accusatorial, Inquisitorial, Justice systems,
International best practice, Law of wrongs
Paper type Research paper
Financial crime, especially,corruption, fraud and money laundering are acquisitive crime of
choice, largely influenced by human greed, hinging on dishonesty and deception, thus
raising both moral and legalissues that negatively affect various nations; although morality
(standards for good or badconduct) and law regulate human conduct, however, whilelaw is
obligatory, attracts sanctions and flexible in adapting to modern trends, in contrast to
morality which often attracts social opprobrium (Crentsil, 2015), rigid in adapting to social
developments and cheaper to enforce (Crentsil, 2015, p. 17); over the years, there has been
question on whether lawought to enforce moral standards(Riddall, 1991). For example,John
Stewart Mills[1] hypothesised that the foundation of moral enforcement dated back to the
ancient time when rulers began to exercise authority over their subjects in the pretext of
protecting the liberty of their subjects against tyranny, this culminated in the will of the
people being subsumed with the will of the most active segment of the society who had
Customs,
mores and
culture
1111
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.25 No. 4, 2018
pp. 1111-1122
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-09-2017-0083
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