Die Bedeutung afrikanischen Gewohnheitsrechts im Nationalstaat: Entwicklungen in Tanzania und Südafrika

This article offers a comparative research analysis about the position of African customary law within the plural legal systems in Tanzania and South Africa. One of the major concerns of Tanzania upon attaining political independence from British colonialism and of post apartheid South Africa was the reconstruction of their plural legal systems - systems that juxtaposed common law, African customary law and religious law - inherited from the predecessors. A historic overview of research about African customary law in Tanzania under colonial rule and about the efforts concerning the unification and integration of personal law after independence is followed by an analysis of the contemporary position of African customary law in relation to the provisions of the Bill of Rights. A similar analysis in regard to South Africa deals with efforts for a certain integration of common law and customary law concerning family matters and the provisions of the Bill of Rights, enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa of 1996. Finally, the focus is turned on a comparison of the harmonisation processes of legal systems in both countries.