LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CUSTOMARY LAW — Customary Courts — Appellate Review — Liberal Interpretation of Proceedings

"Superior courts, particularly the apex court, have continued to stress that greater latitude and broader interpretations must be accorded to decisions of Customary Courts as it is trite that the proceedings in the Customary Courts are not subject to the application of the Evidence Act. It is important that superior appellate courts in relation to matters relating to Customary Courts should focus their attention to the substance of the judgments or decisions in those courts rather than the form. This is so because Customary Courts be they Area Courts or whatever name they are christened in our various judicial jurisdictions are generally presided over by laymen without even rudimentary exposure to legal principles. An appellate court should in all circumstances strive to get to the bottom of the decision of a Customary Court. This can only be achieved by considering the import of a decision of a Customary Court not in fragments or in isolation of excerpts thereof but must be read harmoniously as a whole in order to capture its import."