The Laws of Lerotholi: Role and Status of Codified Rules of Custom in the Kingdom of Lesotho

Abstract

The status of customary law in African societies is diminished by factors, most of which are generated by the machinery of the modern state.1 But its mantle, kept alive by neo-traditional scholarship and a commitment to multiculturalism in the post-independence era, has nevertheless sustained an active discussion on its relevance to the future of law and the general administration of justice in African states.2 This notwithstanding, the reach of customary law in defining human relations and