SOAS Research Online

Abstract

In 2017, the institutional structure of the Supreme Court of Cameroon was amended to include a Common Law Division (CLD). That was done partly to address a violent conflict that originated from wider discriminatory practices against the English-speaking minorities, the unsatisfactory application of the common law, and longstanding difficulties experienced by common law lawyers in accessing that court. This article applies conflict transformation theory to investigate the transformative potentials of the CLD, through a qualitative exploration of its organization and functioning and the common law lawyers' perception and experience of the CLD. It finds that participants were generally receptive to the CLD, despite cautious optimism in the extent to which it could effectively represent and develop the common law, due to some limitations imposed by application of the 2006Supreme Court Law. Consistent with conflict transformation theory, the findings highlight the need for the continuity of the transformation process to further refine the CLD. The findings have broader implications for the agency of courts in conflict transformation in postcolonial divided societies.