African Law and Legal Systems

Though in many ways rooted in indigenous Chinese custom and political tradition, the Chinese legal system nevertheless bears the imprint of Western influence. This article uses the Chinese criminal justice system as the medium for exploring the foreign legal traditions -- particularly the civil law tradition of continental Europe and the socialist law tradition of the Soviet Union -- that have influenced the modern Chinese system of law. This Article examines six elements of the structure of the formal criminal justice system, placing special emphasis on those aspects of that system that are derived from, or analogous to, features of European or Soviet civil law. The six elements are: (1) the Organic Law of the People's Courts; (2) the Organic Law of the People's Procuracy; (3) the Code of the Criminal Law; (4) the Code of Criminal Procedure; (5) the Constitution of 1982; and (6) the opinions of the Supreme People's Court. [The article also includes English translations of these six elements.]The article argues that the major legacy bequeathed to the Chinese by the European and Soviet legal traditions is a judiciary which is neither expected, nor able, to exert significant checks or restraints on the arbitrary exercise of state power by the executive and legislative branches of government. The article also asserts that the structure of the formal criminal justice system contains many distinctively Chinese features the thrust of which is to inject flexibility into the criminal justice system so as to allow for the exercise of administrative discretion founded in and guided by political ideology.

Although the process for registering domain names is a separate one from trademark registration, many countries have reached the conclusion that there is a strong need to take precautionary measures to prevent conflicts between trademarks and use of domain names.  Nigeria has, with the recent passing of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act 2015 joined the moving train in adapting its trademarks protection framework to the exigent demands of participating in the network of computers on the World Wide Web. This paper examines the concept of trademark infringement, cybersquatting and the use of domain names, as well as considers the appropriateness of an action for trademark infringement or passing off in the event of a dispute arising from use of domain names. The paper also examines the criminalization of cybersquatting in Nigeria and makes a bold attempt at imploring the judiciary to join the moving train in the fight against trademark infringement even as technology advances.

The objective of Civil Procedure Laws is rendering justice. Civil Procedural Laws try to make sure that all litigants get equal chance to present their case and to convince the court their version of the truth to the required standard. This requires time. Parties need time to organize their case and evidences and courts also need time to weight evidences adduced by parties. However, the reality of life and human nature may not always allow us to make use of time to render justice. There are circumstances where lack of immediate action by court results in gross injustice that cannot be made good later by any available means. This makes it a must for our justice systems to create a solution to balance the interests at stake that is  the need for time for fair trail and the need to act immediately to prevent irreversible damage. The Ethiopian Civil Procedure Code like its counterpart the US Civil Procedure Act gives courts the power to apply measures to balance the two interests. However, the laws do not provide detailed rules on criteria and standards courts should apply in using this very relevant but delicate power. The US courts have developed through time criteria and standards. On the other hand Ethiopian courts do not do the same and they continue to use this important power without developing the required criteria and standards to create a consistent and balanced approach in using protective and provisional measures. The new proclamations on Copy right and Trade mark have incorporated criteria that are similar with the criteria developed by US Courts; however, their application is yet to be tested. The article is mainly based on doctrinal legal research approach and the conclusions are based on legal analyses. Very limited cases are available in Ethiopia courts that provide detailed discussion on how protective and provisional measures have been decided; therefore, it is not possible to make detailed case analyses to explain the laws. Very few Cases from Ethiopia are randomly used to show the lack of strong reasoning by courts in deciding on protective and provisional measures in Ethiopia.

The right to ‘freedom from all forms of violence from public or private sources’, enshrined in Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, could have a significant impact on efforts to end violence against women (VAW) in the country. The right is particularly relevant in the Zimbabwean context where VAW occurs in a range of settings, from the most intimate of relationships in the home to the state’s use of rape as a political weapon. One way in which the state can fulfil its duty to address VAW is through the reform of the country’s rape law. With comparative reference to the impact of the right to freedom from violence in South African law, this article discusses three areas of Zimbabwean law that present potential obstacles to achieving justice for rape survivors: the definition of the crime of rape, the abolished but tenacious cautionary rule, and the sentencing of sexual offenders.

African Customary Law is one of the world legal families used and respected by many African communities. It is one of the most advancing areas of legal research and a platform for modern legal debates among jurists and legal researchers. The presented book is well structured with new insights. The authors dedicated themselves to compare various systems and highlight what is within the African legal traditions that can add value to the legal research. The book is alive to modern progress in teaching of African customary law including the ubuntu jurisprudence in South Africa. It also highlights new class of legal scholarship that seeks to give a new approach to the study of law, such as, the comparative law approach. The book is sold by LawAfrica and those who are interested can contact the publisher.

The paper posits that the regulation of insider dealing will continue to throw up a host of issues. For one, the sophistication of the financial environment within which the law and regulatory mechanisms operate, compounds the practical and legal difficulties confronting those seeking to administer and apply the law. The paper proceeds to argue that the taking of advantage of information that the other party could not obtain, is as old as human nature and that man is naturally structured to think of protecting his interest first. Consequently, the paper asserts that the problem of insiders abusing information that they obtain by virtue of the special relationship that they have with the company is not a new one. Nonetheless, while some do not see any reason why insiders who deal in the securities of the issuer with which they enjoy this privileged access to its information should not be held responsible, others hold the view that acquisition of superior information should not be discouraged, let alone be penalised. It is against this backdrop that the paper critically examines the concept of insider dealing under the Nigerian law; the mischief the law seeks to remedy; and considers relevant lessons from other jurisdictions.

Le caractère exogène des structures étatiques en Afrique subsaharienne est l’une des idées-forces de la littérature universitaire depuis les premières accessions à l’indépendance des anciennes colonies. Cette idée repose sur l’analyse de différents phénomènes observables depuis les années 1960, à commencer par la similarité des formes institutionnelles européennes et africaines, dont les lois fondamentales seraient tout à la fois l’exemple le plus évident et le plus déterminant.

This study was carried out as an assignment for the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Zambia by a joint team of Zambian and international advisers. It covers aspects of criminal, civil administrative and customary justice. It combines analysis of laws, institutional capacities and the perspectives of agents and users of the legal system. It recommends a number of measures and strategic directions to make legal remedies and mechanisms more accessible to ordinary Zambians.

The role of communications in facilitating public participation in constitution-making is often neglected and misunderstood, particularly in post-war state-building when mass media may be weak. In the early 1990s, Ethiopia’s ruling party, the Ethiopian
People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), drafted one of Africa’s most ambitious constitutions, allowing for ethnic federalism, decentralization and democratic reforms. The constitution has been highly controversial and many of its aspirations remain unrealized. This article explores how the EPRDF sought to use the media to explain and encourage acceptance of the constitution. It offers a framework for analysis that is relevant for countries beyond Ethiopia by examining: the role of media
policies in providing domestic and international legitimacy for constitutions; the ways in which media can provide a space for non-violent political conflict or negotiation, where elites can navigate political struggles and debate ideology; and the use of media to implement the constitution’s most ambitious goals.

Since the 1990s, a new generation of African International Organizations (AIO)  emerges  on  the  African  continent,  inspired,  for  most  of  its  normative  and institutional  articulation,  by  the  European  model  of  integration,  including  its Community  law  while  by  bringing  African  specificities.  Thus  Community  law  is rooted  in  some  AIO  and  the  interest  by  the  doctrine  on  this new  branch  is  still constant. But is there really an African Community law that the doctrine seeks to systematize,  at  least  thematically?  This  paper  is  a  contribution  to  the  problem posed by considering the nature and characteristics of this law developed mainly in Central and West Africa.

The body of public international law that may be known as ‘African Union (AU) law’, that is to say, the treaties, resolutions, constitutive documents, jurisprudence and practices of the AU, now constitute a respectable corpus of legal material. However, not only is this body of law under-theorised and under-studied by general public international law scholars, the nature of its reception and application within the domestic legal orders of AU member states is even more neglected. This article seeks to address the dearth of scholarship in this regard by critically analysing the judicial reference to AU law in one African country – Uganda – having particular regard to the reception of human rights related AU law.

La création de la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des
peuples a marqué l’avènement d’une nouvelle ère des droits de l’homme sur le continent. S’est cependant posée à la naissance de cette juridiction, la question de ses rapports avec son aînée: la Commission, alors déjà vielle de plus de 20 ans. La solution fût trouvée dans le principe de ‘complémentarité’. Ce principe de complémentarité consacré par le Protocole à la Charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples portant création d’une Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples (Protocole) est assurément de bon aloi. Mais force est de reconnaître, qu’il souffre de nombreuses
difficultés qui entravent sa mise en œuvre. S’il est vrai que les deux
institutions poursuivent des objectifs semblables, qu’en outre, leur
spécificité ne fait ‘guère de doute’, la question de l’articulation de leurs
fonctionnements concurrents et de leur coexistence pratique n’était pas pour autant résolue dans le Protocole consacrant la complémentarité. De
nombreuses problématiques ont donc germé, dont celles relatives à la
concurrence, la hiérarchie, ou encore l’enchevêtrement des compétences. Il
ressort cependant de la présente étude, que bien que ces insuffisances
originelles du principe de la complémentarité produisent des effets
déplorables sur la relation entre les deux institutions, celles-ci semblent
avoir opté pour une approche pragmatique et empirique de la mise en œuvre de leur complémentarité. En se fondant entre autres sur une approche comparée au regard des expériences européenne et américaine, cet article se propose d’analyser la relation entre la Commission et la Cour africaines à lumière du principe de complémentarité.

This study seeks to argue that the Constitution of South Africa establishes its own legitimacy through a colonial legacy, and not through African values as it excludes African philosophy. The demands of justice would have it that the legal system of any society, and the development of its jurisprudence, naturally ought to reflect the ethos and values of its origin. Currently, South African jurisprudence has been advanced by a broad accommodation of various intellectual traditions, some of which, dating as far back as the 6th Century Greek and Roman philosophies. European Imperialism advanced the myth that Africa was devoid of history and knowledge, but this is an issue that is not robustly revisited in majority legal scholarship, to challenge that aspersion. Instead, African philosophy is mostly relegated to being an oddity, and of ornamental value only not pertinent to the framing of legal discourse. Given the antiquity of African society in the history of humankind, its civilisation had been able to solve most societal issues. The reverse is true in that, because of the youthfulness of European civilisation in relation to African, resulted in it projecting regressive elements through its imposition. Therefore, it is not the Constitution that brought progressive discourse in South Africa, it was always a feature integral to African society. The study will address these through three sub issues: how the South African jurisprudence excludes African philosophy by promoting Western cultural hegemony; what African philosophy is; and ubuntu as the central to African philosophy and how it can be used to engage South African legal problems.

Le droit au développement passe pour une notion quelque peu oubliée, souvent caricaturée, et apparemment décevante dans sa concrétisation depuis sa reconnaissance consensuelle lors de la Conférence mondiale sur les droits de l’homme de 1993. Tout n’a pourtant pas été dit et ce droit connaît ces dernières années des progrès discrets mais notables, qui s’expriment sur le terrain contentieux sous l’impulsion des juridictions et quasi-juridictions africaines.
The concept of the right to development seems to have been forgotten ; it is often caricatured and its implementation has apparently been disappointing since its consensual recognition during the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993. Yet, there is more to say about it and, in the past few years, discreet but noteworthy progress led by African judicial and quasi-judicial bodies has been achieved in this contentious area.

On September 2, 2020, Cameroonians attended the publication of the decree
on the distribution of regional advisers by department in the country. Even if the conformity of this law is not in doubt, the motives and the criteria of distribution of the said local elected officials remain unknown. In this post, it is a question of
finding an explanation for this distribution. This is why we tested 6 explanatory
hypotheses in the context of a specific comparative analysis each time in its
parameters and criteria. These hypotheses have crossed the political,
geographical, and quantified field. And finally, the partially invalidated
hypotheses put us on a path that allowed us to discover the technique used by the State : the 3-dimensional proportional distribution.

Mediation, as a means of voluntary settlement of legal rights, has become a mainstay in many legal jurisdictions as an alternative in the resolution of disputes and the forgoing of any legal suits by claimants. Its use has also transcended into the sphere of criminal jurisdiction with its elements employed in healing the festering sores of crime - both physical and psychological - on victims and even in the sentencing of offenders, if any, in some jurisdictions. Its application in the Nigerian Judicature has however been marred by reticence due to reading of the offence of Compounding as a bar to settlement of criminal matters without prosecution of offenders. This paper analyses the offence of compounding with the view that it is not a bar, but a guide to be used in the mediation of crime with the aim to preserve society's need for general deterrence alongside an evolving positive legal phenomenon.

A dificuldade de harmonização jurídica da função social das chamadas “autoridades tradicionais” de países africanos lusófonos tais como Angola, fruto direto da colonização e descolonização do continente africano por países europeus. Eis o contexto em que se situa o presente artigo, que refere casos coletados em estudos de campo anteriores, bem como manifestações proverbiais e procedimentais do referido poder tradicional. O artigo fá-lo identificando indícios de (ou pontos de) contato entre essa camada da ordenação jurídica com aquela proveniente do direito estatal.

The difficult legal harmonization of the so called “traditional authorities” of African Portuguese-speaking countries such as Angola, a byproduct of the colonization and decolonization of the African continent by European countries. That is the background for this paper, which refers cases collected in previous field studies, as well as proverbial and procedural manifestations of said traditional power. The article does that in order to identify signs of (or points of) contact between that layer of legal ruling and the one arising from State law.

This is a list of the Academic Publications of Dr. Gbadebo Anthony Olagunju, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Faculty of Law, Lagos State University, Nigeria as at February, 2016. The list also contains the summary of all the publications.

Nigeria is a country in West Africa which has a population of over 170 million people . In 2014 it became the largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $521 billion . In spite of its large population and economic growth, Nigeria has a great wealth disparity with a large amount of its population living in poverty . The failure of its economy to facilitate the eradication of poverty in Nigeria is attributed to corrupt practices in public offices . Since gaining independence in 1960, the Nigerian government has made several attempts at fighting corruption. Most of the anti-corruption agencies and policies the Nigerian government put in place to curb corruption has been more successful in private sector, while a major problem still remains in the public sector. The European Union (EU) has also cooperated with the Nigerian government to develop strategies which support the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria. This has been done through the European Development Fund and Country Strategy Paper (EDF CSP) between the EU and the Nigerian government.

The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss how the cooperation between the EU and the Nigerian government could be used in curbing corruption in public offices of This dissertation seeks to interrogate if the approach taken in the European Community – Federal Republic of Nigeria Country Strategy Paper and National Indicative Programme for the period 2008 – 2013 (also known as the 10th European Development Fund Country Strategy Paper – 10th EDF CSP) can effectively resolve corrupt practices in the public sector of Nigeria.

The research in this dissertation has been based on secondary research materials. This includes; academic journals, working papers, reports and news websites. The writer acknowledges that a more extensive research will require primary resources and for this reason will be willing to proceed further by conducting primary research in a post graduate degree. 

Background on corruption
Corruption is defined by the World Bank as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain” . It is a global problem which exists in every country of the world and affects almost every sector of the society. There is hardly any country or community that can boast of successfully eradicating corruption in its public and private sector. Even within the EU, corruption is still problematic despite the high-level institutions and law making machinery of the EU and its member states . In February 2014 a report by the European Commission titled “EU Anti-Corruption Report” stated that the estimated cost of corruption to the EU was €120 billion . While attempts at tackling corruption has been clearly positive in some EU member states, there have been problems in making a common model or strategy which responds to the difference in legislation and societal changes in member states . This is to say that a particular strategy which is effective in one country may not be effective in another due to the system of government and the social characteristics of its citizens.

In spite of the difficulty in resolving issues of corruption, countries and international organisations have sought ways to curb corruption through anti-corruption agencies and government initiated policies. In countries where this has been successful, there have been continuous improvements of strategies to meet up with the changing needs in the society. For instance, the United Kingdom launched a cross government anti-corruption plan in December 2014  which outlines previous procedures used in resolving corruption within the UK and overseas, and sets out the actions to be taken in the future . This shows that despite the low level of corruption in the UK , its government still find it important to evaluate and upgrade measures used in tackling corruption to respond to changes and new challenges in the society.

In Nigeria, its government seeks to resolve issues of corruption in the public and private sector through its anti-corruption agencies. Although there are a number of anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, the main agencies are the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) . The ICPC and the EFCC both have the power to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption , however the difference between both agencies is that the ICPC can audit and review offices, create public awareness and act on reasonable suspicion while the EFCC is more focused on enforcing and prosecuting financial crimes . Nevertheless, both agencies are important in resolving the problem of corruption in Nigeria.

The European Union through its external development aid and cooperation with the Nigerian government provides support to the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria. The EU and the Nigerian government have both acknowledged that corruption poses a threat to development in Nigeria and as thus is a particular need to respond to it appropriately . The support given to the anti-corruption agencies can be seen in the 9th (2002 – 2007)  and 10th (2008 – 2013)  European Development Funds and Country Strategy Paper (EDF CSP) between the European Union and the Nigerian government. The EDF CSP is an aid development strategy plan between the EU and African Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) which Nigeria is a member. The EFCC has benefitted from support under the 9th and 10th EDF CSP while the other anti-corruption agencies have only benefited from the latter. Furthermore, the section of the country strategy paper for the 10th EDF which addresses how EU – Nigeria cooperation will support anti-corruption agencies focuses more on its support to the EFCC  as the main anti-corruption agency in Nigeria. For this reason, there will be a focus on the EFCC in this dissertation and the support it has received through the EDF CSP.

Research questions
This dissertation will therefore seek to answer the following questions; why is it important that the EU cooperates with Nigeria to resolve problems of corruption in Nigeria? What are the possible limitations and challenges that can undermine the approach taken in the 10th EDF CSP and how else could the cooperation between Nigeria and the EU have provided a better approach to resolve corruption in public offices of Nigeria?

The chapters of the dissertation will be focused on answering the dissertation questions. Chapter one of this dissertation will discuss the cooperation between Nigeria and the EU. It will look at the history of EU Nigeria cooperation, EU development policy in Nigeria and how corruption undermines development in Nigeria. Chapter two will concentrate on the approach used in the 10th EDF CSP and its limitations in curbing corruption in Nigeria. Chapter three will discuss a better approach that could be more effective than the approach in the 10th EDF CSP in curbing corrupt practices in public offices of Nigeria. This will be based on the nature of corruption in Nigeria and what the EU and Nigeria seek to achieve. Chapter four will be a case study of the role played by the EFCC in prosecuting a former state Governor of Nigeria, James Ibori. This chapter will analyse if an application of the approach in chapter 3 would have yielded a better and more effective result as compared to the current approach. The conclusion will be based on the analysis above.

O artigo problematiza a integração das ‘autoridades tradicionais’ angolanas em relação ao
paradigma jurídico-institucional ocidental, cuja adoção Angola constitucionalmente renovou em 2010. Por um lado, analisa dois casos extremos ligados a acusações de feitiçaria, em que ficam evidentes violações a garantias individuais, ao Estado de Direito (rule of law) e à separação de poderes. Por outro, apresenta o fenômeno do direito proverbial no contexto Ovimbundu, que demonstra grande correspondência entre ordens normativas de naturezas tradicional e estatal. Esboça, por fim, hipóteses e meta-hipóteses a serem utilizadas na pesquisa em andamento.

The paper discusses the integration of Angolan ‘traditional authorities’ regarding Western legal and institutional standards, which Angola renewed by means of it's constitution in 2010. On the one hand, it analyses two extreme cases of witchcraft-based trials, which clearly show violations of individual rights, the rule of law and the separation of powers. On the other hand, it presents the
phenomenon of proverbial law in the Ovimbundu context, which shows great matching between State and traditional legal orders. Last, it outlines hypotheses and meta-hypotheses to be used in the ongoing research.

The paradigms and methods currently used by the Organisation for Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), States and international organizations in their law reform activities do not take appropriate account of economic, social and cultural realities of the regions where the new law is to be implemented. To demonstrate this, the author explores the interactions between foreign influenced formal commercial law in the Republic of Benin and women’s on-the-ground business practices through a comparative, historical, inter-disciplinary and empirical methodology (Clinical legal pluralism).
The article looks at the evolution of business law and of economic activity in the region from pre-colonial times to present where OHADA Uniform Acts largely inspired by French and foreign law constitute the primary source of Beninese formal commercial law.
It examines elements of businesswomen’s socio-cultural realities and economic practices to assess the extent to which they are accounted for in formal law. The analysis reveals the considerable gap that continues to exist between the Western-inspired Acts and the realities and modes of Beninese women entrepreneurs.
The author outlines a framework for bridging this gap and recognising the central role of citizens in creating the law. This is to allow small and medium (in particular female) enterprises to play a greater role in the socio-economic development of their country. The framework integrates some of existing law reform paradigms with additional ones focused on the identity of legal actors in the region (banks, small, medium and large entrepreneurs, micro-credit institutions, financiers, etc.), the dynamics between them, the role of women in business and alternative legal reform methods based on bottom-up approaches to law.

This article uncovers the constitutional debate over human rights in the lead-up to independence in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, which became modern Botswana. The country's acclaimed liberal-democratic values were born not in an automatic consensus but in a political contest between the two main parties: the Democratic Party and the People's Party. While both expressed at least some support for individual protections, there was a divergence between the People's Party's vision of African communalism and the Democratic Party's commitment to enshrining the private property rights of Europeans. This article argues that, despite Botswana's glowing reputation as a non-racial democracy, its constitutional foundations were heavily shaped by the needs of the white minority. Based on original archival research conducted in Botswana and the United Kingdom, this study offers the first in-depth exploration into the development of the country's bill of rights.

I could not agree more that life is indeed a stage; a stage where every man has his own entrance and exit. In the Nigerian context, Shakespeare’s words become more apt, when I consider the efforts and perhaps the “numerous investments” usually made during electioneering period in my dearly beloved country; where the mentality of the average politician is to “chop from the national cake” or have a fair share of the national wealth.

However, the essence of this piece is neither to garner sympathy for the dead nor chastise the dead or even the living, for indeed, we all, as mortals will one day, give account of our sojourn on earth before the creator of the universe; essentially, the essence of this piece is to examine the legal issues arising from the just concluded Kogi State Gubernatorial election; and consider the legal implications of the sudden death of the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, who was said to have died of undisclosed medical reasons, shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared his victory at the elections inconclusive.

Sequel to the demise of Prince Audu (who was already leading with 41,353 votes before his untimely departure to the world yonder), controversies abound as to what exactly the position of the law is: whether James Abiodun Faleke (who was the deputy gubernatorial candidate before Audu’s death) automatically becomes the governorship candidate of the APC and whether in the event that Faleke automatically becomes the gubernatorial candidate, Faleke, can on his own, nominate a deputy or should, in consultation with his party, nominate a new deputy to represent the party in the supplementary elections.

Nigeria and Uganda’s anti-homosexuality laws, when passed at the beginning of 2014, dominated media and activist attention across the continent and globe. Promulgating draconian penalties for people engaged in same-sex relationships and their allies, the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda and the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act in Nigeria held life-altering, life-threatening consequences for those it targeted. An equally pernicious law, passed in Uganda at the same time, received considerably less attention or condemnation -- the Anti-Pornography Act, which criminalised pornography through, inter alia, regulating women’s dress in public. While Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act has since been struck down by its Supreme Court and the Anti-Pornography Act is under review, the concurrent passing of these two laws, which have varying precedents elsewhere on the African continent, offers an instructive analytical vantage point from which to examine the intersection of homophobia and sexism as overlapping, reinforcing oppressive sexuality and gender power systems.
In this essay, I compare African anti-homosexuality laws and “decency” laws, which prescribe dress codes for women, examining the ideological underpinnings of these two sets of mutually reinforcing laws. Drawing on Michael Kimmel’s conception of homophobia as the “repudiation of the feminine”  in men, an idea which has precedent in the queer and feminist theorising of Leo Bersani  and Suzanne Pharr,  I argue that both sets of laws rest on a patriarchal order that seeks to regulate “deviant feminine sexuality” in men and women. Using the example of the Young Women’s Leadership Project (YWLP), a Southern African feminist research and advocacy project that I coordinate at the African Gender Institute (AGI) at the University of Cape Town, I argue that African feminist activism should reconceptualise its activist mandate to include struggles against homophobia since the devaluation and hatred of the undisciplined feminine lies at the root of both sexism and homophobia.

Envisager lamanì ere dont les Afriques s'insèrent dans la globalité, la façon dont elles pensent la simultanéité et construisent la pluralité sans s'y enfermer c'est envisager la façon dont elles s'adaptent, créent ou subissent les grandes mutations juridiques qui s'en suiv-ent. Ce projet d'atelier a pour ambition de faire connaitre certaines questions relativesà la sociologie juridique dans les " Afriques cosmopolitiques " pour fairé echò a la thématique générale des REAF 2016. Penser le droit et ses mises en oeuvre dans les Afriques cosmopolitiques peut conduirè a anal-yser des processus généraux qui, au-deì a du droit , concernent les modes de structuration , de fonctionnement , de régulation des sociétés dans leur ensemble. L ' analyse des systèmes juridiques en Afrique subsaharienne a déjà permis de constater que l ' unité du droit , " un droit englobant " est opposé au pluralisme juridique et la tradition culturelle pluraliste qui se dessine comme le cadre de la socialisation et de la juridiscisation. Si les recherches de soci-ologie du droit en Afrique se construisent par petites touches , elles nous permettent de mieux comprendre la complexité des systèmes juridiques et les grands bouleversements présents et futurs des mondes Africains. Questionner les " Afriques cosmopolitiques " c ' est poser le probì eme de la mise en oeuvre des pluralismes juridiques. L ' ambition de cet atelier est d ' y apporter quelques solutions suivant trois axes qui s ' enchevêtrent: 1) l ' héritage colonial dans les pratiques juridiques , notamment les " pratiques métissées " nées du mélange entre cultures endogènes et exogènes appelé " néo-coutumier " , 2) le pluralisme juridique dans la " tradition culturelle pluraliste en Afrique et 3) les effets de la globalisation sur les systèmes juridiques africains. Ainsi , ce projet d ' atelier est ouvertà toutes les questions relativesà la coexistence de ces différents droits importés ou traditionnels , la complexité inhérentè a toute tentative de conjuguer l ' un et le multiple , l ' ordonnancement des systèmes juridiques et la formalisation des relations instables et volatiles qui existent entre les différents sous systèmes juridiques. L ' objectifétant d ' analyser la transformation des systèmes juridiques , les luttes qui en découlent , les changements juridiques qui résultent de cesévolutions au gré desquels le droit devient une ressourcè a exploiter , ` a construire , ` a reconstruire età imposer dans l ' espace public. Si le Droit est défini comme " jeu ouvert dans la société post-moderne " , il s ' agit d ' intégrer dans le droit vécu la diversité des modes de régulation juridique , la multiplication des pratiques formelles et informelles. De cette idéé emerge la " polycentricité des sources de la normativité juridique " .

Mediation, as a means of voluntary settlement of legal rights, has become a mainstay in many legal jurisdictions as an alternative in the resolution of disputes and the forgoing of any legal suits by claimants. Its use has also transcended into the sphere of criminal jurisdiction with its elements employed in healing the festering sores of crime - both physical and psychological - on victims and even in the sentencing of offenders, if any, in some jurisdictions. Its application in the Nigerian Judicature has however been marred by reticence due to reading of the offence of Compounding as a bar to settlement of criminal matters without prosecution of offenders. This paper analyses the offence of compounding with the view that it is not a bar, but a guide to be used in the mediation of crime with the aim to preserve society's need for general deterrence alongside an evolving positive legal phenomenon.

Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt ein Zwischenergebnis eines Forschungsprojektes zur Frage der Übertragbarkeit deutscher Staatsstrukturprinzipien auf clan-basierte Gesellschaften am Beispiel Somalias dar. Ziel der Forschungsnotiz ist es, anlässlich des Endes der turnusmäßigen Amtszeit des aktuellen Präsidenten im Februar 2021 zu erörtern, wie die Übertragung der Strukturprinzipien bislang vor-angeschritten ist und wie die Ergebnisse zu bewerten sind. Diese Einschätzung der aktuellen Lage in Somalia erfolgt unter Einbezug historischer und gesellschaftlicher Hintergründe und Entwicklungen. Schlüsselwörter Somalia · Präsidentschaftswahlen · Konflikt · Verfassung · Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmajo) · Clan · Gesellschaft · Föderalismus Abstract This paper presents an interim result of a research project on the question of the transferability of German state structure principles to clan-based societies, using Somalia as an example. Against the backdrop of the end of the presidential term in February 2021, the research note discusses how the transfer of structural principles has progressed so far and how the results are to be assessed. This assessment of the current situation in Somalia takes into account historical and social backgrounds and developments.