Microsoft Word - Summary AHSI PRETORIA SEMINAR REPORT 22nd OCTOBER 2009.doc

This summary report details a seminar held on October 22, 2009, titled 'Crime and Criminal Justice Systems in Africa-Enhancing Human Security,' organized by the African Human Security Initiative (AHSI). The event featured presentations on the challenges of studying crime in Africa, the impact of organized crime in Southern Africa, survey findings from Western African countries, and the complexities of harmonizing diverse legal systems across the continent.

• Researching crime and criminal justice in Africa is complicated by diverse environments and the difficulty of characterizing human rights violations, which are often denied by state elites. However, SADC and ECOWAS protocols are identified as potential tools for improving crime data compilation.
• Organized crime in Southern Africa is increasingly transnational, but differences in legal and social morality lead some communities to not perceive certain crimes as such, which undermines the legitimacy of law enforcement.
• In a survey of three Western African countries—Sierra Leone, Benin, and Bamako—crime prevalence was linked to geography, with coastal areas seeing more housebreaking and inland areas experiencing more livestock theft. At least 60% of citizens in these areas use customary justice mechanisms, such as chiefs, or 'known gangs' to resolve crimes like crop and livestock theft.
• SADC member states face significant capacity gaps in combating crime, including a lack of political will, insufficient funds, inadequate technical expertise for organized crime, and a failure to ratify or domesticate key legislation. Harmonization is further hindered by varying definitions of crimes, different penalties, and the strain on resources for countries belonging to multiple Regional Economic Communities (RECs).
• Francophone African countries initially adopted the French criminal justice system but adapted it over time to local conditions, often without an overall penal policy. The French model's influence is seen in the use of militaristic specialized units and a system where judicial police are accountable to the Prosecutor (Procureur de la République) rather than the government.
• Africa's criminal justice systems are challenged by a 'dual heritage of colonialism and traditionalism.' To build a Continental Justice System, two types of harmonization are proposed: internal harmonization (between customary laws and formal systems) and external harmonization (between formal systems across countries and international standards).

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Microsoft Word - Summary AHSI PRETORIA SEMINAR REPORT 22nd OCTOBER 2009.doc. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22OCT09REPORT.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Microsoft Word - Summary AHSI PRETORIA SEMINAR REPORT 22nd OCTOBER 2009.doc. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22OCT09REPORT.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Microsoft Word - Summary AHSI PRETORIA SEMINAR REPORT 22nd OCTOBER 2009.doc |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22OCT09REPORT.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndmicrosoft, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Microsoft Word - Summary AHSI PRETORIA SEMINAR REPORT 22nd OCTOBER 2009.doc}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22OCT09REPORT.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }