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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:African Courts under the Colonial Regime: Usumbura, Ruanda-Urundi, 1938-62
Author:Dickerman, CarolISNI
Year:1992
Periodical:Canadian Journal of African Studies
Volume:26
Issue:1
Pages:55-69
Language:English
Geographic terms:Ruanda-Urundi
Burundi
Rwanda
Belgium
Subjects:colonialism
customary law
family law
customary courts
Law, Human Rights and Violence
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Ethnic and Race Relations
Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights
Historical/Biographical
Marital Relations and Nuptiality
divorce
Religion and Witchcraft
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/485402
Abstract:This article focuses on how an African court in Usumbura, Ruanda-Urundi, mediated the relationship between the colonial administration and a rapidly changing urban community from 1938, when the court was established, to 1962, when the colonial period ended. The analysis considers how the sometimes conflicting and sometimes coinciding interests of colonial administration, court, and community were expressed in three common causes of litigation: bridewealth, divorce, and consensual unions. These particular kinds of disputes illustrate how the court affected marriage formation and norms of domestic conduct. In regulating the institutions of marriage and divorce, the court's interests largely coincided with those of the administration. But despite supervision by colonial officials and the obligation to enforce certain regulations, the court cannot be seen as simply another arm of the Belgian administration. European mores, Islamic dictates, and the norms and customs of a new community fashioning itself out of diverse ethnic origins and new economic practices all shaped its proceedings and decisions. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French.
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