An anthropological approach to conflict resolution in the Comoros ; Approche anthropologique du règlement des conflits aux Comores

Abstract

The Comoros was colonized by France in 1841 up to 1975. From this period up to now, there exist different type of legal systems: French law, Muslim law and customary local law. We can safely say that these three legal systems have given birth to a legal pluralism deriving from the presence of France for one century, from the practice of Islam in the Archipelago and from the endogenous law of the Comorian society. The Comorians use one of these legal systems according to their personal interests. Between Comorians, some disputes concerning personal status or that of young ladies are resolved not based on the intent of legislator but often by a recourse to the local customary law or to the Muslim law. Yet as said by Nobert Rouland "the French conception of people is indivisible, only the State represents the people and makes the law, thus the law itself can only be indivisible and coherent". For settling their disputes, the Comorians do not resort immediately to the State institutions. They prefer to settle their dispute by recourse to traditional authorities specially for the questions of personal status or those of sexually abused minor children. That's why our central proposition come into being: the State of Comoros is not the only institution to regulate the social life; the State is just one between many actors and thus suffer fierce competition from other actors which may be victorious over the State, specially over the questions concerning personal status and protection of sexually abused minors. Given the constant recurrence of this situation which does not easily conform with the prerogatives of State, we propose to study the dispute resolution, specially the social and cultural questions involved. ; Les Comores ont été colonisées par la France de 1841 à 1975. De cette période jusqu'à nos jours, il existe plusieurs types de droit : le droit français, le droit musulman et le droit quotidien (droit traditionnel). Nous pouvons dire que ces trois ordonnancements juridiques ont donné naissance à un pluralisme ...