Book
Justice and judgment among the Tiv
Published for the International African Institute by the Oxford University Press • • Published In 1968 • Pages:
By: Bohannan, Paul.
Abstract
This comprehensive account of the Tiv judicial system is based on 73 cases recorded by Bohannan, his assistants, and court scribes, and interviews with judges. The Tiv judicial system is divided among magistrates' courts, district or native courts, and what Bohannan refers to as moots, which are informal lineage-based tribunals. The magistrates' courts are based on a code of law and adjudicate disputes between the largest lineage segments which in the past redressed wrongs through warfare. The native courts hear cases within the largest lineage segment largely concerning failure to pay debts or brideprice. Moots deal with cases internal to the smallest lineage segment where a complex history of grievances is often too delicate to sort out, and the need to maintain the integrity of the group is paramount. Moots often occur during funerals when rights and obligations among kin have to be reasserted. At this level the accusations of witchcraft and the establishment of protective fetishes demarcate and reconstitute the lineage's moral structure.
- HRAF PubDate
- 1998
- Region
- Africa
- Sub Region
- Western Africa
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field Date
- 1949-1953
- Coverage Date
- 1907-1953
- Coverage Place
- Benue State, Nigeria
- Notes
- Paul Bohannan
- Reprinted (with a new preface)
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCN
- 71389113
- LCSH
- Tiv (African people)