1. What a legal system is, and law before colonial rule

Meaning of a legal system

Rules and institutions: A legal system is more than a list of rules. It includes the bodies that make law (Parliament and delegated authorities), the bodies that apply it (the courts and tribunals) and the people who operate it (judges, lawyers, police and officials).

A plural system: Sierra Leone recognises more than one body of law. The general law (statute, common law and equity) applies across the country, while customary law governs many matters of family, land and status for people subject to it, and Islamic law applies to Muslim marriages, divorce and inheritance.

The pre-colonial order

Customary rules: Before colonial rule, the different ethnic groups governed themselves by unwritten customary rules handed down by tradition and enforced by chiefs and elders.

Dispute resolution: Disputes were settled by chiefs, councils of elders and secret societies. The aim was usually reconciliation and the restoration of harmony between families and communities rather than punishment of the individual.

Features: The rules were unwritten, flexible, community-based and closely tied to religion, kinship and land. These features still mark customary law today.