NCJ Number
18382
Journal
Revue internationale de criminologie et de police technique Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: (JULY-SEPTEMBER 1974) Pages: 203-216
Date Published
1974
Length
14 pages
Annotation
OVERVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN THE PRE-COLONIAL, COLONIAL, AND POST-COLONIAL PERIODS AND A PROJECTION OF FUTURE PROBLEMS AND REQUIREMENTS.
Abstract
CONTRARY TO THE VIEWS OF THE EUROPEAN COLONIALISTS, PRE-COLONIAL AFRICAN SOCIETY WAS REGULATED BY JURIDICAL RULES OF BEHAVIOR. THIS SOCIETY ALSO DISTINGUISHED BETWEEN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAW. THE ADVANTAGE OF THE PRE-COLONIAL RULES WAS THAT THEY REFLECTED THE SOCIAL VALUES OF THE POPULATION. DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD, THE FRENCH, BELGIANS, AND BRITISH IMPOSED THEIR OWN PENAL CONCEPTS ON THE BLACK COLONIAL POPULATION. COLONIAL PENAL LEGISLATION WAS CHARACTERIZED BY SEVERITY, DISCRIMINATION, AND AUTHORITARIANISM. THE EUROPEAN LEGAL SYSTEMS ARE STILL USED AS THE BASIS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN THE POST-COLONIAL PERIOD, PARTLY AS AN INSTRUMENT OF NATIONAL PRACTICES. CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN STATES FACE THE TASK OF MODIFYING THESE SYSTEMS TO ACCOMODATE TO THE REALITIES OF RAPID SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE ENCOURAGED BY THE AFRICAN ELITE AND TRADITIONAL RESISTANCE TO MODERNIZATION BY OTHER PARTS OF THE POPULATION. --IN FRENCH