NOTICE: The Centre for Comparative Law in Africa and the Cape Town Resolution

From Africa, for Africa and the World 

The Centre for Comparative Law in Africa held its inaugural methodology workshop from 22 to 24 October 2012. Some 40 scholars from various universities in South Africa, Africa, Europe and the United States of America participated in plenary and panel discussions around comparative law in cultural, interdisciplinary and subject context, Western legal traditions and mixed jurisdictions in African comparative legal studies, traditional and informal law in Africa, religious law in Africa and its comparative implications and the role of African comparative legal studies in the development of law in Africa.

The workshop closed with agreement on a Cape Town Resolution: 

 

“We, the participants to the Inaugural Methodology Workshop of the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa in the University of Cape Town, have determined and declared as our intention: 

• to encourage and promote the diffusion of knowledge, study and teaching of comparative law in Africa 
• to pursue such diffusion through multi-disciplinary comparative research across African countries considering their legal systems in their diversity and complexity 
• to recognise the need for a multi-disciplinary approach since the human and social sciences in comparative legal research, including – but not limited to – linguistics, anthropology, history, sociology, cognitive sciences, economics, political science are critical for comprehensive comparative legal studies 
• to encourage diffusion of this initiative both inside and outside Africa, with scholars, public and private institutions, research and academic associations, development projects, international agencies, bodies and the like. 

The aim of this initiative will be to improve knowledge and understanding as values per se, as well as a prerequisite for application to a number of fields, including governance, law reform, dispute resolution and capacity building.”

Signatories included: Waheeda Amien,Tom Bennett, Ignazio Castellucci, Jacques du Plessis, Charles Fombad, Marco Guadagni, Rajendra Parsad Gunputh, Nazeem Goolam, Kebreab Habtemichael, Chuma Himonga, John Kabudi, Jimmy Kodo, Timothy Kyepa, Fernando Loureiro Bastos, Claire Moore Dickerson, Salvatore Mancuso, Margaret Munalula, James Odek, Chris Okeke, Ada Ordor, Gianluca Parolin, Christa Rautenbach, Moussa Samb, Sylvester Shikyil, and Mathilda Twomey.