The present study focuses on the judiciary. The local courts were singled out for study for a number of important reasons. Firstly, the original thrust of the local courts was customary law. No clear definition of customary law has been developed by the courts nor has there been any systematic development of this subject. There has been a conflict between the demands of customary law on the one hand and the imperatives of human rights, on the other hand.
Customary law tends to be insensitive to gender equity.
Modern constitutional and international law instruments emphasize the rights and equality of all persons irrespective of gender. How this contradiction is handled by the local courts is of great interest to Afronet. Secondly, the local courts are renown for their quick dispensation of justice. This has a positive as well as a negative connotation. A lot of good things can be said that justice delayed is justice denied.