The Context of African Law

This chapter assesses African law. The law of Africa displays one fundamental common attribute: plurality. In Africa, a great variety of legal orders and legal concepts coincide and must try either to cooperate or at least to tolerate one another. There is no one single traditional legal system; for example, there are an estimated 300 traditional legal systems in Nigeria alone. Africans constantly switch from one legal system to another in daily life. This coexistence of many systems, which applies not only to legal orders but also to jurisdiction, generates many potential conflicts. However, the essence of pluralism is not to highlight these conflicts and try to solve them, but rather to defuse them pragmatically, if and when they lead to genuine problems.