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IOWA LAW REVIEW<br />
position will come from traditional authorities, who see the abolition<br />
of customary law as an erosion of their power.<br />
Finally, we may ask whether customary law can exist in a modem<br />
legal system in the same form as previously. In all countries there<br />
has been an interaction of formal and customary law which may have<br />
changed the character of the customary law. As has been said, customary<br />
law cannot be separated from the customary process of resolving<br />
disputes, which stressed conciliation as much as, if not more<br />
than, adjudication. When this system becomes regulated by the governmental<br />
authorities-as it has invariably become1--and lawyers are<br />
involved in the process of litigation, directly or indirectly, the character<br />
of customary proceedings will become more adjudicative than<br />
conciliatory. 4 6 One commentator has observed that in the British<br />
colonies the rules of procedure and evidence have been effectively<br />
employed to excavate and crystallize the principles of the customary<br />
law and that the customary law has been molded to the general principles<br />
of English law while the English law has been adapted to conform<br />
with the circumstances of each African country. 14 He refers<br />
to a "marriage between the two systems." If this is so, then it may be<br />
asked whether customary law can be the same or have the same place<br />
in the society as it once did. Finally, the quest for certainty may cause<br />
efforts to be undertaken to reduce customary law to writing, and as<br />
has been observed, "this could not fail to have a very important effect<br />
on the administration of customary law, which will then be applied<br />
in a different way and upon a different juristic basis."' 48<br />
It seems that the real question is the extent to which a separate<br />
system of law based on custom shall be retained in areas deeply rooted<br />
in tradition and religion, such as family law, succession, and land<br />
tenure. 4 9 [Vol 53<br />
www.abyssinialaw.com<br />
Customary law does not play a very important role in most<br />
245 See PROCEEDnTGs 13-18.<br />
14 See id. at 41-44, for a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of<br />
having lawyers appear before customary courts. To the extent that customary<br />
law is applied by the regular courts, the conciliatory aspect is also likely to be<br />
lost.<br />
147 Ollennu, supra note 125, at 26. During the colonial period a number of<br />
changes in the content and form of customary law took place. Local enactments<br />
repealed some of the customary law, and certain provisions of customary law<br />
were declared to be "repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience"<br />
and, therefore, not enforced. See B. NWABUEZE, supra note 121, at 6-10. This was<br />
particularly true as regards many aspects of customary procedure, and there has<br />
been a trend to impose uniform procedural and evidence law on the customary<br />
courts. The London Conference, for example, agreed that there was no danger<br />
in having a uniform adjective law. LoNDON Co'zRw a 12.<br />
' 48 PROCEEDMS 22-23.<br />
140 However, as will be seen, some countries have retained customary law in<br />
other areas.
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