Legal and Judicial Pluralism in Namibia and Beyond: A Modern Approach to African Legal Architecture?

The focus of this article is twofold: Firstly to shed light on the concept of legal pluralism from a Namibian perspective. Namibia is a vital example for an African country in which legal pluralism is not only anchored in the Constitution, but also a living reality in legal practice. The article sketches some historical developments in Namibia relevant for the understanding of the coexistence of different legal systems in the country, before discussing the existing and emerging legal setting in the context of national law applicable in Namibia and its international obligations. A focus is placed on the interplay between Roman-Dutch Law, the Common Law and Namibian Customary Law. In order to demonstrate how such pluralism plays a role in the complex national judicial framework, the Namibian court system is briefly introduced and challenges are highlighted by way of examples.Secondly, Namibia is a member of various political and economic formations on the African continent such as the Southern African Devel...