SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The Federal Republic of Cameroon which came into existence on October 1, 1961, is made up of former Southern Cameroons which was administered by the British Government as an integral part of her Colony of Nigeria, and the Republic of Cameroon - a former trust territory under French Administration. Thus West Cameroon (i.e. former Southern Cameroons) was endowed with a legal system akin to that of Nigeria, and therefore of Great Britain, and East Cameroon (i.e. the former Republic of Cameroon) was endowed with the French legal system. This thesis, the first of its kind, attempts to trace the development of the laws and constitution of Cameroon within the framework not only of these two major foreign legal systems, but also of the indigenous systems. The work is divided into three Parts comprising of twelve chapters. Part I, comprising only of Chapter I, deals with a general historical and ethnographic survey of Cameroon. An attempt has been made, particularly in connection with the historical introduction, to piece together the various treaties and agreements which gave Cameroon her present boundaries. Part II comprises of Chapters II - IV. Chapter II deals with the administration, by the French and British Governments, within the framework of the Mandate and Trusteeship systems, of their respective parts of Cameroon. Attention is also paid to the political and constitutional developments leading to independence and reunification. These include the United Nations conducted plebiscites in the Cameroons and the Cameroons: case at the International Court of Justice which arose therefrom. Chapter III is devoted to an analysis of the Federal and Federated State constitutions while Chapter IV deals with the courts and legal profession in Cameroon. Part III comprises Chapters V - XII, each of which deals with a specific subject. Thus Chapter V traces the Sources of Law in Cameroon while Chapter VI deals with Procedure and Evidence. The five others deal respectively with Criminal Law, Civil Law (i.e. Contract and Tort), Commercial Law, Land Law and Family Law. Chapter XII deals briefly with the attempts, few as they are, which have been made to integrate the law. In each of the chapters in this part, we have tried to deal with both the French and English law on each topic, the aim being to point out where they are different and to make suggestions for dealing with such differences. Although these suggestions have sometimes come out either in favour of French or English law where either system was thought better, we have not ceased to emphasize the tremendous advantage in being able to produce new laws based on the best from both systems.