Re-examining Burial Disputes in Kenyan Courts through the Lenses of Legal Pluralism.
Keywords:
Legal pluralism, customary law, burial disputes, legal proximity, Pluralismo jurídico, derecho consuetudinario, disputas por enterramiento, proximidad jurídicaAbstract
This paper starts by exploring the place of customary law in socio-legal studies. It examines the different criticisms levelled against customary law and argues that although customary law is considered not to have the features of formal legal systems, the said comparison is unjustified as customary law and formal state law originate from different foundations. The second part of this paper highlights the contemporary theoretical discourse on legal pluralism. It responds to scholarly criticism of legal pluralism and traces the historical development of the concept. Using landmark burial disputes in Kenya, the paper examines the use of customary law in Kenyan courts. It identifies the inconsistencies and absurdities that result from the use of common law principles in the resolution of customary law disputes and advocates for the government to embrace non-state justice systems in resolving burial disputes.
El artículo comienza por explorar el lugar del derecho consuetudinario en los estudios socio-jurídicos. Examina las diferentes críticas realizadas sobre el derecho consuetudinario y aduce que, a pesar de que no se lo considera dotado de las características de los sistemas jurídicos formales, la comparación es injustificada, porque el derecho consuetudinario y el derecho estatal formal tienen un origen distinto. La segunda parte del artículo se ocupa del discurso teórico actual sobre el pluralismo jurídico. Responde a las críticas académicas al pluralismo jurídico y busca el origen histórico del concepto. Utilizando las disputas sobre enterramientos en Kenia, se examina la aplicación del derecho consuetudinario en los juzgados de Kenia; identifica las inconsistencias que resultan del uso de principios del derecho común (Common law) en la resolución de disputas de derecho consuetudinario, y aboga por que el gobierno acepte sistemas no estatales de justicia para resolver las disputas por enterramientos.
Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-0982
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