SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Almost all the seventeen West African states experienced colonialism which introduced new legal systems of the English common law and French civil law; new religion of Christianity (in addition to Islam introduced by the Arabs earlier); new languages of English and French; and the formalised dispute resolution system of litigation and its support services. This chapter argues that these colonial attributes created a shift in the dominant law and the dispute resolution system of the communities that make up these states. It examines the pre-colonial or traditional dispute resolution processes prevalent in one form or other in all West African states and interrogates the reasons behind the ascendancy of litigation which led to the demise of the traditional dispute resolution processes. It finds that there is a move towards the formal recognition of both modern and traditional alternative dispute resolution processes and argues for their integration with litigation to create greater avenues of access to qualitative justice for their citizens.