Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
"IDLO is the only intergovernmental organization exclusively devoted to promoting the rule of law. Governments, multilateral organizations, private foundations and the private sector support our work. We are headquartered in Rome, where we were first founded, and where we continue to enjoy strong support from the Italian government. We are present in The Hague, a city whose hospitality connects us with an unrivaled legal tradition. And we are represented at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, where we help shape the debate about human rights and development."
Source/publisher:
International Development Law Organization
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law (JLP) is devoted to scholarly writing and documentation on all aspects of legal pluralism and unofficial law everywhere in the world and at all times.Published since 1969, first under the title African Law Studies (issues 1-18) it is a refereed, independent, interdisciplinary, international journal. From 2013, the JLP is in volume format (volume 45 onwards). Number 1-66 are all freely available if you scroll down this page.
Since March 2013, the Journal of Legal Pluralism is an official publication of the Commission of Legal Pluralism and is available through the Taylor & Francis group. The three issues per year are available both electronically and in hard copy. Subscriptions to the online version are available at a reduced rate of €31.26 for Commission members and are bundled within the Commission membership fee. A one-year subscription to the print copy of the JLP in addition to the electronic access costs € 53.00 for Commission Members. Institutional subscribers need to go through the Taylor & Francis Group. Please visit the JLP page of the Taylor & Francis website to find out more about the most recent issues and to access all articles and book reviews..."
Source/publisher:
Commission on Legal Pluralism
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-27
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The 8th Geneva Forum brought together judges, lawyers, and other legal experts from around the world, and relevant UN representatives, to discuss the relationship between traditional and customary justice systems and international human rights,
In many countries the majority of legal disputes, especially in rural areas, are resolved by traditional and customary justice systems that are not necessarily recognised by national law as a part of the official court system. The role of traditional and customary justice systems is therefore a key question for realization of ?access to justice for all” and ?effective, accountable and inclusive institutions” under Sustainable Development Goal 16.
The 8th Geneva Forum brought together judges, lawyers, and other legal experts from around the world, and relevant UN representatives, to discuss the relationship between traditional and customary justice systems and international human rights, access to justice, and the rule of law.
The potential for improving access to justice:
In many countries the majority of legal disputes, especially in rural areas, are resolved by traditional and customary justice systems that are not necessarily recognised by national law as a part of the official court system. The role of traditional and customary justice systems is therefore a key question for realization of ?access to justice for all” and ?effective, accountable and inclusive institutions” under Sustainable Development Goal 16.
Traditional and customary justice systems are often more practically and culturally accessible to local populations than is the official court system, and may be seen by local people as having greater legitimacy as well. Indeed, official recognition of the existence of traditional and customary courts in a country can be a positive reflection of the international human rights of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, or the particular rights of indigenous peoples, or cultural rights more generally.
For marginalized and disadvantaged rural populations in developing countries, traditional and customary courts may in practical terms be the only form of access they have to any kind of justice. Development agencies have increased their engagement with informal justice systems, and are considering much greater investment in capacity-building of such systems, noting their potential to reach large portions of the population who face significant obstacles to realizing access to justice in the official justice system..."
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2017-11-24
Date of entry/update:
2017-11-24
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
more
Individual Documents
Description:
"Despite hundreds of “Rule of Law” projects at the World Bank and a host of
research into the foundations and content of the Rule of Law, we are still nowhere near
an altogether satisfactory definition. While the Rule of Law is repeatedly being referred
to in ‘legal assistance’ and ‘law reform’ projects and lives as a guiding principle in
constitutions around the world, we don’t seem able to settle on a commonly agreedupon approach to its nature and institutional form. In this context, the Rule of Law
provides an opportunity to engage critically with the differences in perception and bias
from which participants in the debate define and situate the principle and its underlying
values. This short paper argues for a legal pluralist understanding of the Rule of Law as
a set of selective institutional experiences and normative contentions which look very
different when studied across time and space. Complementing some of the work that
has been done in post-colonial studies and by TWAIL (Third World Approaches to
International Law) scholars in law, the ‘transnationalization of the rule of law’ might be
one of the important next frontiers in deconstructing Western and Northern narratives
of legal ordering... Rule of Law, Legal Pluralism, Post-colonialism, World Bank, Orientalism,
Legal Transplants, Empire..."
Source/publisher:
"Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series"
Date of publication:
2017-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
317.69 KB (26 pages)
more
Description:
Abstract:
"Justice sector reforms have frequently been based on institutional transplants, wherein the putatively ?successful? legal codes (constitutions, contract law, etc.) and institutions (courts, legal services organizations, etc.) of developed countries have this been imported almost verbatim into developing countries. Local level context and the systems of justice actually operating in many contexts were largely ignored. As such, justice sector reformers have failed to acknowledge, and thus comprehend, how the systems-which, at least in rural areas, are predominantly customary, idiosyncratic to specific sub-regional and cultural contexts, and residing only in oral form-by which many people (if not most poor people) in developing countries order their lives function. This paper attempts to bring customary systems into central focus in the ongoing debate about legal and regulatory reform. It first analyses the ongoing challenges and critiques of customary legal systems and examines why, despite these challenges, engaging with such systems is crucial to successful reform processes. It then turns to an examination of the ways in which customary systems have developed in three African Countries-Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa-and how governments in each of these countries have tried to deal with different systems. Finally the paper draws out some of the lessons of these experiences and the implications they might have for ongoing policy reform initiatives."
Chirayath, Leila; Sage, Caroline; Woolcock, Michael;
Source/publisher:
World Bank
Date of publication:
2005-07-01
Date of entry/update:
2017-08-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
315.47 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
Table of contents :
Preface:
Erica Harper ...
INTRODUCTION:
- Non-state and Customary Actors in Development Programs:
Peter Albrecht and Helene Maria Kyed...
CHAPTER 1 -
Women?s Access to Justice, Legal Pluralism and Fragile States
Tanja Chopra and Deborah Isser...
CHAPTER 2 - Finding the Pulse of Peace Operations: The Case for Privileging
?Political? Rather than Technical Forces
Bryn Hughes...
CHAPTER 3 -
The International Community and the ?
Shura
Strategy? in
Afghanistan
Noah Coburn...
CHAPTER 4 - Pragmatism, Proximity and Pashtunwali: Informal Justice at
the District Level in Helmand Province
Kate Fearon...
CHAPTER 5 - Strengthening International Programming on Access to Justice
for the Poor and for Women: Lessons learnt from Pakistan?s
Musalihat
Anjumans
and other programs
Cassandra Balchin...
CHAPTER 6 -
Village Justice in Indonesia: Defining the ?State? and ?Non
-
state?
in Dispute
Resolution Processes
Matthew Zurstrassen...
CHAPTER 7 - Popular Concepts of Justice and Fairness in Ghana: Testing the
Legitimacy
of New or Hybrid Forms of State Justice
Richard C Crook, Kojo Asante, and Victor Brobby...
CHAPTER 8 - Experiences of Informal Justice and Security Provision in a
Fragile Environment
- The Case of the Terai Region in Nepal: Competition
for power and order
Lars Peter Lopez Christensen and René Taus Hansen...
CHAPTER 9 - From Practice to Policy, and Back: Emerging Lessons from
Working with Community-Based Justice Mechanisms in Helmand, Afghanistan
Mette Lindorf Nielsen .
Editors: Peter Albrecht, Helene Maria Kyed, Deborah Isser, Erica Harper
Source/publisher:
International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
Date of publication:
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2017-08-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.54 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
Foreword:
"Since the Convention on Biological Diversity acknowledged the relevance of ?traditional
knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities” for
biodiversity conservation, the past two decades have witnessed a growing
acknowledgement of the substantial role that customary law plays in regulating the use
of natural resources in many countries. Indigenous peoples? associations have become
ever more effective advocates for recognition of customary rights to territory and
resources and have increasing influence in international negotiations.
The role of customary practices in biodiversity conservation is explicitly acknowledged in
the Aichi Targets adopted at the 10
th
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity in October
2010. Target 18 sets the goal that, by 2020, ?the
traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities,
relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary
use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and relevant
international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of the
Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities,
at all relevant l
evels.”
IUCN?s Regional Environmental Law Programme, Asia, initiated this study
?
carried out
entirely on a voluntary basis
?
in an attempt to better understand the degree to which
customary practices and law that govern natural resources are recognized by individual
nation States. The study found that more than 60% of the 190 constitutions reviewed
provide at least some degree of recognition of customary law, and that only 20%
specifically recognize customary law that governs land and natural resources.
Some countries that do not provide constitutional recognition of customary law do so by
statute. While constitutional recognition was the primary focus of this study, a
preliminary compilation of information on statutory recognition of customary law was
carried out and is provided as well.
This effort benefitted from the input of members of IUCN?s Commission on
Environmental Law and Commission on Environmental Economics and Social Policy.
We gratefully acknowledge the author, Ms. Katrina Cuskelly, who began this study as a
volunteer intern with the IUCN?s Regional Environmental Law Programme, Asia, and
continued and completed the work over the course of more than one year. Without her
dedication and commitment, this study would not have been possible.
We hope that this study provides a basis for continuing research and, eventually,
initiatives for constitutional and statutory reform, to appropriately recognize customary
law governing natural resources, and to contribute to the security to the people
whose
lives it governs and who are dependent on the natural resources"
Katrina Cuskelly
Source/publisher:
IUCN
Date of publication:
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-01-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.25 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
Abstract: "This article analyzes some of the most salient features of the state and the legal
system in Mozambique. I propose the concept of the heterogeneous state to
highlight the breakdown of the modern equation between the unity of the
state, on the one hand, and the unity of its legal and administrative operation,
on the other. The centrality of legal pluralism is analyzed in light of an em-
pirical research focused on community courts and traditional authorities. I use
the concept of legal hybridization with the purpose of showing the porosity of
the boundaries of the different legal orders and cultures in Mozambique and
the deep cross-fertilizations or cross-contaminations among them. Special at-
tention is given to the multicultural plurality resulting from the interaction
between modern law"
Boaventura de Sousa Santos
Source/publisher:
Law & Society Review
Date of publication:
2006-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...This paper examines the value and limitations of HLP restitution in contexts of customary land tenure
and legal pluralism and examines the role that customary justice can play as part of a transitional
justice process. It argues that actors involved with restitution and broader efforts to reinstate justice,
the rule of law, and democracy in post-conflict and transitional contexts should engage, albeit under
certain conditions, with nonstate justice mechanisms. For the overwhelming majority of populations
in developing countries, which is where most internally displaced persons (IDPs) live, customary
justice is the only accessible form of justice. Engagement with it is essential to improving access to
justice and to reforming or influencing its rules and processes in accordance with the human rights
and democratic principles promoted by transitional justice..."
Barbara McCallin
Source/publisher:
Brookings Institution
Date of publication:
2012-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional, Internal displacement/forced migration - global and regional
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The existence of normative legal systems operating independently or semi-independently
from the state is an empirical reality in almost every decolonised
country in the world.
However, despite the prevalence of non-state justice
systems, and the growing official and academic recognition of their existence, to
date few comparative studies have been made of them (with the notable exception
of Morse and Woodman 1988). Further, although in much of the literature
concerning non-state justice systems (especially that written by law reform
commissions and donor agencies) there are references to the need to ?recognise,?
?empower? and ?harmonise? relations between state and non-state systems, as yet
there has been limited enquiry into what exactly is meant by these terms. One
explanation for this is the connection of this enquiry with sensitive issues
concerning state sovereignty. While it is easy to agree in theory with broad
statements about the need for recognition of non-state systems, once the actual detail is broached, significant levels of disagreement emerge.
This may be due to
what Blagg calls the ?meticulously embroidered fiction that it is possible to both
?empower? communities and not to give up any of one?s own” (Blagg 2005: 340).
The aim of this paper is therefore to produce a comparative analysis of the range
of possible relationships between state and non-state justice systems. It does this
through the creation of a typology that sets out seven different models of
relationship, the specific details that differentiate one model from another, the
potential advantages and disadvantages of the different models, and the situations
in which these models are working or not working and why. The typology is based
on a comparative analysis..."
Miranda Forsyth
Source/publisher:
"Journal of Legal Pluralism"
Date of publication:
2007-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Rule of law practitioners from around the world are keenly aware that customary justice systems are
a potentially important means of improving access to justice. Whether by choice or because they
have no alternative options, the world?s poor overwhelmingly favor customary justice systems over
their formal counterparts. While the quality and equity of the outcomes delivered may vary, the
sheer volume of outcomes suggests that there is significant opportunity to enhance legal
empowerment by improving the quality of the justice processes that disadvantaged individuals and
communities already use. At the same time, it is clear that customary justice systems can also
restrict access to justice, particularly for marginalized and vulnerable groups. These processes can
reinforce power imbalances, and outcomes can contravene human rights and justice standards. A
central conundrum of engaging with customary justice systems is therefore how to support their
many important positive aspects and enhance their capacity to protect the human rights of the
most vulnerable members of society, notably women, minorities, indigenous peoples, disabled
people and children. Despite these obvious linkages, the question of the role that customary justice
systems should play in rule of law development programming remains poorly understood. In
particular, there is scant knowledge on the extent to which assistance has translated into behavioral
change among actors involved or on methodologies for evaluating impact and drawing lessons for
future activities..."
Janine Ubink, Editor; Thomas McInerney, Series Editor
Source/publisher:
International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
Date of publication:
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.29 MB
more
Description:
"...the premise that customary justice systems are the preferred choice
of users is grounded in salient practical and social rationale. Their speed, accessibility and cost-effectiveness
make them a natural partner for disputants based in rural settings and isolated from the
state system. Moreover, their focus on consensus-based decisions and the restoration of community
harmony seems to respond to the needs of tightly knit communities whose members share close
bonds of social and economic dependency..."...This is Chapter 1 of "Customary Justice:
From Program Design to Impact Evaluation".
Erica Harper
Source/publisher:
International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
Date of publication:
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
114.11 KB
more
Description:
"...Informal or non-state justice systems are umbrella terms often used to describe mechanisms of
justice and conflict resolution that operate outside the bounds of a formal, state-based legal system.
These may include, but are not limited to, indigenous, customary and religious legal orders,
alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and popular justice forums.
This book is concerned primarily with customary justice systems, sometimes also referred to as
?traditional justice systems?. While the diversity of such systems makes generalization difficult, for
the purposes of this book, ?customary justice? refers to a system of customs, norms and practices
that are repeated by members of a particular group for such an extent of time that they consider
them to be mandatory. Customary systems tend to draw their authority from cultural, customary
or religious beliefs and ideas, rather than the political or legal authority of the state. As such,
provided that it has not been incorporated into state law, customary law is only law to the extent that
the people who follow it, voluntarily or otherwise, consider it to have the status of law.
Customary justice systems are as much social or political orders as they are legal orders; customary
law generally comprises descriptions of what a community does as well as prescriptions as to what
its members should do. These norms and rules are actively produced, enforced and recreated
through processes of participation and contestation. Customary law can therefore be dynamic,
adaptable and flexible, and any written version of it is likely to become quickly outdated. Factors as
diverse as ecology, socio-economics, proximity to the state system, and religious beliefs all
contribute to the development of customary law. These factors explain why the precepts of
customary justice systems can differ greatly over small distances, and why there may be several
versions of customary law co-existing in one place, in competition with each other as well as the
state system..."
Erica Harper
Source/publisher:
International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
Date of publication:
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.13 MB
more
Description:
"Indigenous peoples are among the most historically ancient living cultures
of the world and have over time developed their own distinct bodies of laws
and institutions of social organisation, regulation and control. These laws
and institutions are expressed and practised in ways unique to their sociocultural
contexts as self-determining peoples since time immemorial. Today,
they are commonly referred to as customary laws (and practices).
Customary laws govern community affairs, and regulate and maintain
indigenous peoples? social and cultural practices, economic, environmental
and spiritual well-being. However, customary laws and practices and
governing institutions have come under frequent and repeated attack,
leading to their severe distortion and erosion since the period of conquest
and colonisation. This situation has continued with the formation of new
States following decolonisation in more recent times. Prejudices against
indigenous peoples and projects of nation-building have led to these peoples
being marginalised and the practice of their customary laws, cultural
practices, beliefs and institutions has become a criminal offence in many
parts of the world, including Asia..."
Marcus Colchester & Sophie Chao (eds.) with Ramy Bulan, Jennifer Corpuz, Amity Doolittle, Devasish Roy, Myrna Safitri, Gam Shimray & Prasert Trakansuphakon
Source/publisher:
Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC), Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)
Date of publication:
2011-11-26
Date of entry/update:
2015-02-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Decentralisation (Decentralization) - international examples, definitions, theory, Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.07 MB
more
Description:
"...Plural
legal orders occur in numerous circumstances: for example, where different
family laws apply to specific ethno-cultural groups, where customary dispute
resolution mechanisms operate without state sanction, where non-state legal
orders (such as chiefs? courts) are officially recognised, or where quasistate
legal orders (such as alternative dispute resolution mechanisms) are
established....The report contributes to the discussions on plural legal orders in four ways:
It identifies some important misunderstandings and false dichotomies
that have made coherent discussion of plural legal orders particularly
difficult (and which similarly undermine the understanding of how religious,
indigenous, and gender rights actually interact). (Chapters I to IV)
It sets out the human rights issues that need to be addressed in the context
of plural legal orders. (Chapters V and VI)
It examines some specific policy challenges, notably those that occur in
the context of recognition of non-state legal orders; recognition of cultural
diversity in law; and justice sector reforms. (Chapters VII to IX)
It offers a practical approach ? some principles and a framework of questions
? that human rights advocates and policy-makers can use as a guide when
they work in plural legal contexts. (Chapters X and XI)..."
Source/publisher:
International Council for Human Rights Policy
Date of publication:
2009-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Decentralisation (Decentralization) - international examples, definitions, theory, Human rights organisations, networks: resources, training, methodology and other links, Legal Pluralism - global and regional
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
794.55 KB
Local URL:
more