AEGIS ECAS 2007 - View abstract

Panel	36. Between customs and state law: The dynamics of local law in sub-Saharan Africa
Paper ID	133
Author(s)	Manning, Ryann Elizabeth; Hohe, Tanja
Paper	No paper submitted
Abstract	The World Bank’s ‘Justice for the Poor’ project is an analytical program aiming to better understand how individuals and groups, particularly the poor and marginalized, navigate between various and often competing justice mechanisms at the local level. It is based on the recognition that multiple justice system exist, and that individuals are strategic in their decisions about if and where to pursue justice. The goal is to establish empirically-based knowledge of how power is exercised and legitimized through different decision-making and conflict resolution processes, in order to inform the development of innovative approaches to improving access to justice. The paper will present a methodology and preliminary data from ongoing research in Sierra Leone and Kenya. In Sierra Leone, the ‘Justice for the Poor and Understanding Processes of Change in Local Governance’ project examines the dynamics of local authority structures, decision-making processes, and conflict resolution mechanisms in order to understand how people perceive and experience justice and governance in their daily lives. The study will also seek to determine whether, how, and why these perceptions and experiences have changed in recent years, particularly as the country emerges from more than a decade of brutal conflict and undertakes ambitious reforms in these areas. The project in Kenya examines two dimensions of disputes: a) disputes over natural resources, and b) disputes over community funds. The study explores justice and conflict resolution among pastoralist communities in the underserved north and northeast of Kenya. Frequent droughts and limited access to grazing lands spur conflict at the inter-communal, inter-ethnic or even international level, as parties’ lives, livelihoods, and concepts of justice collide. Community funds, which are introduced to spur development and decrease the impacts of resource scarcity, can potentially lead to disputes over allocation. However, these externally-introduced funds do not include clear mechanisms for conflict resolution. In both nations, individuals face a complex web of formal and informal justice systems representing both the ‘traditional’ and the ‘modern.’ Examples of the former include customary law courts, intervention by chiefs or other traditional leaders, and the use of traditional social groups (such as secret societies in Sierra Leone) to mediate and resolve disputes. Examples of the latter include alternative dispute resolution mechanisms as well as formal courts based on English common law and/or international law. This array of multiple justice systems represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the administration of justice. The existence of sometimes parallel, sometimes competing, and sometimes overlapping systems can be bewildering for users, who must navigate systems with very different and often competing norms. On the other hand, this array of options may allow people to choose the system that best meets their needs. Justice for the Poor uses a primarily qualitative research methodology to analyze how people seek redress for particular types of disputes and grievances, what sociopolitical aspects or values impact their choice of forum, and how well their needs are served. The studies are a preliminary step towards producing meaningful change in access to justice.

Justice for the Poor: Preliminary Findings from Sierra Leone and Kenya