Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The International Criminal Court at the Mercy of Powerful States pp 43–58Cite as

Legal Colonialism by European States

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: International Criminal Justice Series ((ICJS,volume 13))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the legal structures that were introduced by the European powers during colonial rule, to understand how law related and contributed to these systems of domination (Sect. 4.1). In a wider sense, assessing the role of law in the context of European colonialism provides the framework for the later assessment of legal neo-colonialism in the field of ICL. Emphasis is particularly placed on the administration of French and British colonial possessions because both Great Britain and France, despite the presence of several other European states on the continent, were the leading powers on the African continent during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At the same time, they were the architects of the most renowned colonial policies in Africa, the French system of assimilation and the British indirect rule (Sect. 4.2). In the context of both colonial strategies, law was used a tool to unilaterally impose a Western legal system and enforce Western moral values in the colonial territories. The analyses of the French and British colonial policies further demonstrate that colonial legal systems were based on selectivity ratione personae and ratione materiae, both of which served the consolidation of the system of colonial subordination and the implementation of the colonial objectives of the European powers (Sect. 4.3).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Osterhammel 2005, p. 17.

  2. 2.

    See Mommsen 1992, p. 8.

  3. 3.

    Merry 1991, p. 890.

  4. 4.

    Schmidhauser 1997, p. 344.

  5. 5.

    In a similar vein, David and Brierley 1985, p. 556.

  6. 6.

    See ibid., pp. 556f. On the denial of African culture and law in general, Menski 2006, pp. 385ff.

  7. 7.

    Bryce 1901, p. 108.

  8. 8.

    According to K. Mann and R. Roberts, this belief of superiority is linked to the European industrialization and the evangelical revival in the nineteenth century (Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 10f.). In a similar vein, Crowder 1968, pp. 4f.; Menski 2006, pp. 444f.; and Glenn 2014, pp. 272ff.

  9. 9.

    See Menski 2006, p. 388; Snyder 1981, p. 49; and Benton 1999, p. 575, n. 22.

  10. 10.

    See, e.g., Fisch 1992, pp. 22ff.; and Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 9ff.

  11. 11.

    See Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 9ff.

  12. 12.

    Menski 2006, pp. 444ff. For an examination of pre-colonial legal interaction between Europeans and the Africans, Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 9–19.

  13. 13.

    Fisch 1992, p. 15.

  14. 14.

    Ibid., p. 15. See also, Kämmerer 2012, p. 335, para 8.

  15. 15.

    Hooker 1975, p. 56. See also, Mommsen 1992, p. 7. In a similar vein, Schmidhauser has noted: ‘With the imposition of the conqueror’s law inevitably came replacement of indigenous legal and judicial elites with those of the conqueror, at least until a subservient indigenous elite was trained and screened’ (Schmidhauser 1997, p. 344).

  16. 16.

    Schmidhauser 1997, p. 344.

  17. 17.

    With regard to the French domain, see Hooker 1975, p. 201. With regard to the British domain, see Deflem 1994, pp. 46–47.

  18. 18.

    See Joireman 2001, pp. 571–596; and David and Brierley 1985, p. 559.

  19. 19.

    See, among others, David and Brierley 1985, pp. 555f.; and Crowder 1968, pp. 165ff.

  20. 20.

    For an assessment on the characteristic of the civil and common law tradition, Glenn 2014, pp. 132ff., and 236ff.

  21. 21.

    An overview over the most telling differences between these traditions with respect to the administration of colonial possessions is provided in Hooker 1975, pp. 190–195; and Joireman 2001, pp. 573ff.

  22. 22.

    Joireman 2001, p. 577. In a similar vein, Menski 2006, p. 460; and Schmidhauser 1997, p. 344.

  23. 23.

    See infra Sect. 4.2.

  24. 24.

    See Joireman 2001, pp. 577, 592; and T. Obadina . ‘The myth of Neo-colonialism’ Africa Economic Analysis (04 November 2008). http://www.africaeconomicanalysis.org/articles/gen/neocolonialismhtml.html. Accessed 12 November 2016.

  25. 25.

    See, e.g., Hooker 1975, p. 56; Mommsen 1992, pp. 5, 11; and Killingray 1986, pp. 413f.

  26. 26.

    An extensive assessment of the different colonial laws in the European possessions is provided in Hooker 1975; Mann and Roberts 1991b; and Mommsen and De Moor 1992.

  27. 27.

    Mann and Roberts 1991a, p. 4.

  28. 28.

    During the period of colonial rule the French, in most of their possessions, turned towards a system of association (instead of assimilation ) and the British, in part, adopted a policy of paternalism (instead of indirect rule ) (see infra Sects. 4.2.2 and 4.2.3).

  29. 29.

    See, among others, Mommsen 1992, pp. 9f.; and Chanock 1992, p. 280. In this context, it is also worthwhile to refer to the evolution of customary law which was achieved in cooperation of native and colonial elements (see Mann and Roberts 1991a, p. 4; and Mommsen 1992, p. 3).

  30. 30.

    The International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences provides a general understanding of the term assimilation : ‘Assimilation is a multidimensional process of boundary reduction that blurs an ethnic or racial distinction and the social and cultural differences and identities associated with it. At its end point, formerly distinguishable ethnocultural groups become effectively blended into one. At the group level, assimilation may involve the absorption of one or more minority groups into the majority, or the merging of minority groups. At the individual level, assimilation denotes the cumulative changes that make individuals of one ethnic group more acculturated, integrated, and identified with the members of another.’ (Rumbaut 2001, p. 845).

  31. 31.

    The Spanish and the Portuguese also followed a policy of assimilation in their colonial possessions. For an assessment of the French policy of assimilation , see Hooker 1975, pp. 196–203; Crowder 1968, pp. 167f.; David and Brierley 1985, pp. 555f.; and Roberts 1963, pp. 65ff.

  32. 32.

    See David and Brierley 1985, p. 555; and Crowder 1968, pp. 167f.

  33. 33.

    Roberts 1963, p. 27 (emphasis in the original).

  34. 34.

    See ibid., pp. 27, 71. See also, Crowder 1967, p. 2.

  35. 35.

    See Hooker 1975, pp. 196, 201. A thorough examination of the French system of colonial legislation is provided in Roberts 1963, pp. 148–154.

  36. 36.

    Hooker 1975, p. 196.

  37. 37.

    Crowder 1968, pp. 169f.

  38. 38.

    A notable exception was the so-called Quatre Communes in Senegal where the French thoroughly applied the policy of assimilation . However, according to Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore, ‘[i]n 1936, apart from the four coastal communes of the Senegal with their 80,000 black citoyens (citizens with full political rights), only about 2,000 out of 14 million French West Africans had received French citizenship’ (Oliver and Atmore 2005, p. 177 (emphasis in the original)). See also, Crowder 1967, pp. 3–7.

  39. 39.

    See Crowder 1968, p. 167; Roberts 1963, pp. 71ff.; and Hooker 1975, pp. 218–226. On the problems of French assimilation in Senegal , Crowder 1967.

  40. 40.

    See, among others, Hooker 1975, pp. 196f.; Crowder 1968, pp. 169ff.; Roberts 1963, pp. 69ff., 148ff.

  41. 41.

    Roberts 1963, p. 71.

  42. 42.

    See ibid., pp. 72ff.

  43. 43.

    See, e.g., Hooker 1975, pp. 196f.; and Crowder 1968, pp. 169ff.

  44. 44.

    Crowder 1968, p. 165.

  45. 45.

    See, exemplarily, Hooker 1975, pp. 197, 201, 223.

  46. 46.

    Roberts 1963, p. 64.

  47. 47.

    Crowder 1968, pp. 168f.

  48. 48.

    See Oliver and Atmore 2005, pp. 171ff.; and Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 19ff.

  49. 49.

    Lugard 1922, p. 203.

  50. 50.

    See David and Brierley 1985, p. 555; Hooker 1975, pp. 129f.; and Killingray 1986, p. 413. See also, infra Sect. 4.3.2.

  51. 51.

    See Crowder 1968, p. 169; Deflem 1994, pp. 46f.

  52. 52.

    Joireman 2001, p. 578.

  53. 53.

    Crowder 1968, p. 171. In a similar vein, Deflem 1994, pp. 46f.

  54. 54.

    See, among others, Crowder 1968, p. 206; Fisch 1992, pp. 32f.; David and Brierley 1985, p. 557; Schmidhauser 1997, p. 344; and Christelow 1985, p. 3.

  55. 55.

    See David and Brierley 1985, pp. 556f.; and Menski 2006, pp. 444f.

  56. 56.

    See Mommsen 1992, p. 9; Fisch 1992, pp. 31f.; Chanock 1992, pp. 284ff.; Crowder 1968, pp. 198, 206ff., 223; Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 23ff.; and Deflem 1994, p. 47.

  57. 57.

    Schmidhauser 1997, p. 344.

  58. 58.

    Chanock 1992, pp. 284f.; Hooker 1975, p. 220; Crowder 1968, p. 169.

  59. 59.

    Fisch 1992, p. 32.

  60. 60.

    Preambular para 1 Berlin Act (General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa (26 February 1885). http://africanhistory.about.com/od/eracolonialism/l/bl-BerlinAct1885.htm. Accessed 12 November 2016).

  61. 61.

    See, among others, Mommsen 1992, p. 3; Fisch 1992, pp. 16, 21ff.; Deflem 1994, pp. 52, 55. In a similar context, David Killingray observed: ‘Settler colonies, such as Kenya and Southern Rhodesia, tended to be more heavily policed than most other colonies and with a substantial European police presence (Killingray 1986, pp. 414f.).

  62. 62.

    Killingray 1986, p. 413.

  63. 63.

    Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 17f. See also, Crowder 1968, pp. 192f.

  64. 64.

    See, e.g., Deflem 1994, p. 47; Fisch 1992, p. 31; Hooker 1975, pp. 130ff, 223; Crowder 1968, p. 169; Mann and Roberts 1991a, p. 33; and Chanock 1985, pp. 72f.

  65. 65.

    In this statement, Chanock refers to Sect. 20 of the ‘Order of Council of British Central Africa of 1902’ (ibid., p. 72).

  66. 66.

    See Hooker 1975, p. 223.

  67. 67.

    Ibid., p. 223.

  68. 68.

    See ibid., pp. 130, 133, 223.

  69. 69.

    This is a statement by Lord Wright in Oke Lanipekun Laoye and ors. v. Amao Ojetunde (this quote can be found in Hooker 1975, pp. 129f. (see also, p. 136f.)). In a similar vein, Killingray 1986, p. 413. On the British dual-system approach, see supra Sect. 4.2.3.

  70. 70.

    See ibid.

  71. 71.

    With respect to the French dominion, Mann and Roberts link the selective enforcement of the rule of law to competing models of colonialism (Mann and Roberts 1991a, p. 35).

  72. 72.

    See, e.g., Hooker 1975, pp. 212, 221f.; Crowder 1968, pp. 185, 192f.

  73. 73.

    Hooker 1975, p. 221.

  74. 74.

    Fisch 1992, p. 32.

  75. 75.

    See, e.g., Hooker 1975, p. 220; Killingray 1986, p. 413; Menski 2006, p. 444; Crowder 1968, pp. 7, 335, 342; and Crowder 1967, pp. 4f. In Nigeria, according to Crowder , there were only 200 British administrators for an estimated population of 20 million in 1925. In French West Africa, there were 526 French administrators for an estimated population of 15 million in 1922 (Crowder 1968, pp. 198f. On migration in French West Africa see ibid., pp. 335–342).

  76. 76.

    Hooker 1975, p. 220.

  77. 77.

    See, Chanock 1992, p. 283; and Killingray 1986, p. 413. On the numbers of colonial administrators , see supra note 75.

  78. 78.

    Mommsen 1992, p. 10.

  79. 79.

    See, among others, Crowder 1968, p. 335; Deflem 1994; Fisch 1992, pp. 21ff.; Killingray 1986, pp. 413ff.; Mann and Roberts 1991a, p. 31; and Benton 1999, p. 564.

  80. 80.

    Mommsen 1992, p. 10; Fisch 1992, pp. 31f.; Chanock 1992, pp. 283f.; and Killingray 1986, pp. 413, 419, 426.

  81. 81.

    See Mommsen 1992, p. 5; Fisch 1992, pp. 21ff.; and Mann and Roberts 1991a, pp. 12f.

  82. 82.

    See Joireman 2001, p. 571.

  83. 83.

    For the French domain, Hooker 1975, p. 220; Crowder 1967, p. 5; and J.L. Miège, ‘Legal Developments in the Magrib, 1830–1930’ in W.J. Mommsen and J.A. De Moor (eds), European Expansion and Law (Berg 1992) at 103f. For the British domain, Killingray 1986; and Deflem 1994.

  84. 84.

    See supra Sect. 4.3. A brief overview over the French and British colonial policies is provided in Crowder 1964, pp. 197–205.

  85. 85.

    Mommsen 1992, p. 8.

  86. 86.

    Ibid., p. 10.

  87. 87.

    Mann and Roberts 1991a, p. 35.

References

  • Benton L (1999) Colonial Law and Cultural Difference: Jurisdictional Politics and the Formation of the Colonial State. Comparative Studies in Society and History 41(3):563–588

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryce J (1901) Studies in History and Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Chanock M (1985) Law, Custom, and Social Order: The Colonial Experience in Malawi and Zambia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Chanock M (1992) The Law Market: British East and Central Africa. In: Mommsen WJ, De Moor JA (eds) European Expansion and Law. Berg, Oxford, pp 279–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Christelow A (1985) Muslim Law Courts and the French Colonial State in Algeria. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowder M (1964) Indirect rule: French and British style. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 34(3):197–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowder M (1967) Senegal: A Study of French Assimilation Policy, 2nd edn. Methuen & Co Ltd, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowder M (1968) West Africa under Colonial Rule. Hutchinson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • David R, Brierley JEC (1985) Major Legal Systems in the World Today: An Introduction to the Comparative Study of Law, 3rd edn. Stevens & Sons, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Deflem M (1994) Law Enforcement in British Colonial Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Imperial Policing in Nyasaland, the Gold Coast and Kenya. Police Studies: International Review of Police Development 17(1):45–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisch J (1992) Law as a Means and as an End: Some Remarks on the Function of European and Non-European Law in the Process of European Expansion. In: Mommsen WJ, De Moor JA (eds) European Expansion and Law. Berg, Oxford, pp 15–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenn HP (2014) Legal Traditions of the World, 5th edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooker MB (1975) Legal pluralism: An Introduction to Colonial and Neo-colonial Laws. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Joireman S (2001) Inherited Legal Systems and Effective Rule of Law: Africa and the Colonial Legacy. Journal of Modern African Studies 39(4):571–596

    Google Scholar 

  • Kämmerer JA (2012) Colonialism. In: Wolfrum R (ed) Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Oxford University Press, Oxford pp 332–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Killingray D (1986) The Maintenance of Law and Order in British Colonial Africa. African Affairs 85(340):411–437

    Google Scholar 

  • Lugard FD (1922) The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann K, Roberts R (1991a) Law in Colonial Africa. In: Mann K, Roberts R (eds) Law in Colonial Africa. Heinemann, Portsmouth, pp 3–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann K, Roberts R (eds) (1991b) Law in Colonial Africa. Heinemann, Portsmouth

    Google Scholar 

  • Menski W (2006) Comparative Law in a Global Context: The Legal Systems of Asia and Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Merry SE (1991) Law and Colonialism (Review Essay). Law & Society Review 25(4):889–922

    Google Scholar 

  • Miège JL (1992) Legal Developments in the Magrib, 1830–1930. In: Mommsen WJ, De Moor JA (eds) European Expansion and Law. Berg, Oxford, pp 101–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Mommsen WJ (1992) Introduction. In: Mommsen WJ, De Moor JA (eds) European Expansion and Law. Berg, Oxford, pp 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Mommsen WJ, De Moor JA (eds) (1992) European Expansion and Law. Berg, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver R, Atmore A (2005) Africa Since 1800, 5th edn. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Osterhammel J (2005) Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview, 2nd edn. Markus Wiener, Princeton (translated by Frisch SL)

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts SH (1963) The History of French Colonial Policy. Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., London (new impr)

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut RG (2001) Assimilation of Immigrants. In: Smelser NJ, Baltes PB (eds) The International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier Ltd, Amsterdam, pp 845–849

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidhauser JR (1997) The European Origins of Legal Imperialism and Its Legacy in Legal Education in Former Colonial Regions. International Political Science Review 18(3):337–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder FG (1981) Colonialism and Legal Form: The Creation of “Customary Law” in Senegal. The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 13(19):49–90

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zürich, Switzerland

    Res Schuerch

Authors
  1. Res Schuerch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Res Schuerch .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 T.M.C. Asser Press and the author

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Schuerch, R. (2017). Legal Colonialism by European States. In: The International Criminal Court at the Mercy of Powerful States. International Criminal Justice Series, vol 13. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-192-0_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-192-0_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-6265-191-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-6265-192-0

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation