Codified law and the changing normative context of disputes in traditional settings in Botswana

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Periodical article

Title:	Codified law and the changing normative context of disputes in traditional settings in Botswana
Author:	Malila, Ikanyeng S.
Year:	2015
Periodical:	Canadian Journal of African Studies (ISSN 0008-3968)
Volume:	49
Issue:	2
Pages:	267-283
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Botswana
Subjects:	criminal law customary law unification of law punishment
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00083968.2014.999811
Abstract:	At independence, Botswana, like many other countries in Anglophone Africa, inherited a dual legal system that was undergoing a significant shift towards convergence in the areas of criminal law and procedure. In Botswana's case, convergence was driven by a desire to minimise or, more speculatively, to gradually eliminate the gap between the normative standards of common law/general and customary courts in criminal trials. The country chose to follow a route that involved the universalisation of a penal code based on English common law, and the partial standardisation of procedure rules for customary courts. The present article considers how codified law and written procedure rules have transformed the substance and classification of legal wrongs, disputes and dispute processes, as well as the context and meaning of punishment in traditional settings. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]