African Oral Law in Practice

This book examines the African oral legal tradition through the case study of the Banen community of Cameroon, employing a multidisciplinary forensic linguistics framework that synthesises methods from diverse socio-legal, linguistic and ethnographic disciplines. By highlighting the intersection of law and language in indigenous contexts, the author evaluates how well customary law can achieve peaceful outcomes despite the challenges of multilingualism in a courtroom setting. Ultimately, this book advocates for the preservation and recognition of African oral legal traditions, emphasising their significance within contemporary legal discourse. It will be of interest to scholars, practitioners and advanced students of forensic linguistics primarily, but also to the wider population of researchers in applied linguistics, ethnography and legal studies.