The enactment in Malawi of the Wills and Inheritance (Kamuzu's Mbumba Protection) Ordinance, 1964, represents the most significant attempt at legal reform there in recent years. Its importance lies in the fact that it seeks to impose uniformity in an area of the law which had previously been dominated by diverse systems of customary rules. This piece of legislation...

In almost all the former British African territories the colonial power tried to make use of the traditional dispute settlement agencies which it found on arrival. The history of these efforts is familiar, following a generally similar course in most territories. The arrangements made in the early years were haphazard; a good deal of formalization took place around...