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African Legal philosophy

African legal philosophy, just like any other legal philosophy, strives to answer a rational enquiry using reason and logic into the central questions asked by all philosophers, (1) what is the nature of what exist (ontological question) and how do we know(epistemological question)? from the context of African lawyers and philosophers. Murungi J, states that “ because human beings are cultural beings, the African cultural context guides the investigation. Inescapably, it is claimed that, every legal philosophy is embedded in a culture. African legal philosophy is not an exception”.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page)..Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

The African legal system is characterised by the following ideas:

Oral tradition

Although African legal philosophy has been in existence for a long time, it is not in a written format, due to colonisation. The knowledge of African legal philosophy has over the years been orally handed down from generation to generation ,i.e through its proverbs and many other oral forms of transferring knowledge.

II. Communitarianism

In African legal philosophy the interest and the well being of the community is always protected as opposed to the interest of the individual person. According to Menkiti IA “ as far as Africans are concerned, the reality of the communal world takes precedence over the reality of the individual life histories, whatever they might be”Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).^[1]Philosophy : An introduction (University Press of American Lanham 1984) 171 -181/ref>. One of the proverbs that exemplifies the principle of communitarianism is the saying, “ it takes a village to raise a child” this means that every one in the community has a role to play in raising and protecting the well being of all children, thus the concept of street kids in Africa ,was unknown because family extended beyond ones immediate family to relatives, family friends and society as a whole.

III. Reconciliation

African courts adjudicate with the purpose of reconciliation instead of retribution, in order to achieve social cohesion. This is achieved through conciliation, compromise and reconciliation.

IV. Relationship between law, religion and morality

Just like natural law thinkers, African legal philosophers believe that law and morality go together, and therefore cannot be divorced from one another, this is also influenced by their beliefs in religious and traditional customs, which are often influenced by the principle of ubuntu.

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