Customary law in lusophone Africa - Angola, Ginea-Bissau and Mozambique

• Autor(a) principal: Loureiro Bastos, Fernando
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/55090
• topic: África lusófona; Direito costumeiro; Angola; Guiné-Bissau; Moçambique

The relevance of customary law and traditional power structures during the period prior to the independence of Angola, Portuguese Guinea and Mozambique was the result of the very small enforcement of Portuguese law with regard to local populations. The first example of any codification of customary law took place in Mozambique, by means of the Cédigo ou regulamento dos Milandos Cafreaes do Governo de Inhambane (1852). The recent constitutions of Angola (2010) and Mozambique (2004) make an explicit statement about customary law as being a source of law in their legal orders, but the collection and codification of customary norms in the twentyfirst century took place systematically only in Guinea-Bissau (2008-2011). The assessment of the compatibility between the written law of the State and the different customary legal orders in Guinea-Bissau should be done in accordance with the use of the legal mechanisms of special and exceptional legislation