Could a multicultural approach in formulating rules of procedure and proof in criminal trials assist in enhancing the efficiency and legitimacy of a legal system?

The talk will not be about legal pluralism nor convergence of procedural systems.  (Nor is it about sentencing practices).  Legal pluralism is well manifested in South Africa. There is a minor degree of convergence, in so far as colonialism impacted on the development of African customary law and its present-day practice is required to comply with Constitutional standards.

This talk will consider whether the values underpinning African customary law, together with evolving knowledge of human behaviour and memory could increase the effectivity and legitimacy of the formal justice system.

In developing this critique, Professor Schwikkard, will give a brief overview of South Africa’s legal and political history; give examples of arguments for reform that invoke the foundational value of African customary law - Ubuntu. These examples will also be used to illustrate that the colonial gaze has resulted in aspects of South African law and procedure lagging behind advances in knowledge in respect of human behaviour and memory as well as being inconsistent with Ubuntu.

She will conclude, that although the arguments for law reform underpinned by Ubuntu might be plausible, they are unrealistic.  South Africa is the most unequal society on earth and in the context of this inequality an appeal to Ubuntu is unlikely to succeed.

Given that Aotearoa | New Zealand does not suffer from the same levels of inequality, Professor Schwikkard is really interested in learning more about the levels of pluralism in Aotearoa | New Zealand.  Whether indigenous law has had an impact on the law deriving from the English common law system, and the levels of legitimacy enjoyed by the legal system as a whole.

About the Speaker:
PJ Schwikkard has been Professor of Public Law since 2001 (serving as Dean 2009-2015). Her primary research interests include the intersection of human rights with the rules of evidence, criminal law and procedure. She has written numerous articles and book chapters in this area. Professor Schwikkard is a co-author of Principles of Evidence currently in its 5 edition (2023) and Burchell’s Principles of Criminal Law (6ed currently in press). She has written two other books and edited a further seven.

This discussion will take place online via ZOOM 

https://waikato.zoom.us/j/88453145174