Balancing emancipatory legal pluralism and cultural relativism

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Date

2022

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of the Western Cape

Abstract

The concept of legal pluralism receives tremendous attention in sub-Saharan Africa. Notably, this attention arises because of the domineering tendency displayed by transplanted European legal orders now known as state laws. By demanding compliance with bills of rights, which are modelled on universalistic human rights that developed in Europe, state laws are steadily eroding the legitimacy of indigenous African laws. As such, a notable aspect of normative interaction in Africa is a struggle between indigenous laws and state laws. These struggles occur alongside socioeconomic transplants, which have steadily affected the normative behaviour of many Africans. Consequently, an assessment of the status of indigenous African laws is necessary.

Description

Magister Legum - LLM

Keywords

Cultural relativism, Customary law, Legal transplants, Bill of Rights, South Africa

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