It will not escape the notice of the attentive reader of the three articles in this number of the Journal that they all relate or refer, in one way or another, to the codification of the law in Africa. Mr. Kerr, writing of the law of Southern Africa, notes that the Cape Commission of 1883 had suggested the preparation of a code of criminal law and procedure, although reluctant to codify the civil law. He also examines the construction and working of the Natal Code of Native Law, and the value of this Code as a guide to future codifiers of the customary law. Mr. Hannigan, writing of the difficulties experienced in Ghana in the judicial ascertainment of the applicable customary law in any particular case, considers “codification of the general principles of native custom” as one possible solution to the problems which arise, especially the problem of uncertainty and of local variation. Mr. Hannigan on the whole appears to favour a case-study of the judgments of English-type and native courts as a preferable alternative solution to the problem. Lastly, Professor Konvitz, as the Director of the Liberian Codification Project, writes with authority of the objects, working procedures, and difficulties of that Project. The experience of Liberia in codifying its laws will doubtless be valuable to other African countries who may be contemplating a similar step.

The problems of reception and codification discussed by Dr. A. N. Allott in his article on “The Authority of English Decisions in Colonial Courts” in [1957] 1 J.A.L. 23 et seq. have also been encountered in Southern Africa and something of interest and value may be found in an account of experience of the problems in this area.2

The rules respecting custom in Ghana (the Gold Coast) are found in the law reports, the statements of chiefs and elders, the works of textbook writers, both lawyers and anthropologists, and in the unreported decisions of the courts. It is important, however, to distinguish between the rules which have the force of law and those which have not. Here it is proposed to outline the mode of proof required before custom can be recognised as law, bearing in mind that an English judicial system has been imposed upon Ghana, working through a system of case law with its attendant precedents. It is further hoped to point the way to a possible method of ensuring the preservation of the indigenous customs, which is believed to be desirable in order to ensure their natural development.