Customary land tenure

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Transactions between natives in the Protectorate regarding land are governed by native law and custom, which requires the prior consent of relatives, and a tenant at will cannot grant a valid lease.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1973

Principle established: Because Kroo customary law does not recognize the concept of next of kin, a grant of letters of administration on that basis is invalid and the estate must be administered by the Administrator-General.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: Kroo customary law does not recognize the concept of 'next of kin', rendering a grant of letters of administration on that basis void and requiring estate administration by the Administrator-General.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1957-60

Principle established: A district commissioner has absolute statutory jurisdiction under the Protectorate Ordinance to determine land disputes, unaffected by the general jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1957

Principle established: A district commissioner's statutory authority to decide land disputes in the Protectorate is absolute and independent of urgency or the Supreme Court's concurrent jurisdiction.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2026

Principle established: A party does not lose their beneficial interest in an intestate estate merely by testifying in a local court proceeding regarding that estate.