History of African Law

History of African Law It would be impossible to provide a history of African law without exploring the major influences of the European countries that colonised most of the African continent in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. The major legal influences in the African continent come mostly from English, French and Dutch law, as those were the main colonisers in this area. The different countries that brought their laws with them when they took over control of the particular countries have moulded the law in Africa in their own image. Some of the oldest legal systems in the world began first in Africa many thousands of years ago. For example the laws of Ancient Egypt utilised a particular type of civil code, which was based on the concept of Ma’at. The Ma’at was an informal system involving such principles of social equality and impartiality. The Maat was portrayed as being responsible for the regulation of the seasons, stars and the actions of both mortals and the deities. Some of th e laws of the countries in Northern Africa are still primarily based upon on French and Islamic law. One example of this is Algeria, which remained under direct French rule for over one hundred years and it is plain to see the French legal influences in many different areas of their legal system. Algeria became a sovereign state in 1962 but still retains many facets of Roman law that it has inherited from the French colonialists. A brief summary of the legal history of the entire African continent is impractical and so the focus of this piece will be mainly on the history of South African law as it is demonstrative of the continent as a whole, as it contains all the same themes that are present in the majority of African countries. South Africa has a mixed legal system, comprised of the combining of several distinct legal traditions. The original Dutch colonisers in the Seventeenth century brought with them a civil law system; a common law system was inherited from the later English colonisers in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, and indigenous law, often referred to as African ‘customary law’. The interrelationship between these individual traditions is very complex, with the influence of English law being the most noticeable in procedural characteristics of their legal system and set up and methods of judiciary. There is a major Roman law influence in the legal system in addition, which is most visible in its substantive private law. More recently in the late Twentieth century another component has been added to this mix and that is the constitution. This interrelation of vastly different legal systems and methods is visible throughout the continent and no exploration of the history of African law would be complete without an analysis of the individual sources of this law itself. Throughout the majority of the African continent it is most difficult to discover the history of the legal systems that were in existence prior to the Europeans arriving. The reason for this is because with the exception of a few countries such as Egypt, there was no formal written history of laws in most African countries. Seemingly to amplify this problem was the failure of the Dutch, British and other European regimes to record the laws of pre-colonial Africa. From the middle of the Seventeenth century, with the arrival of Dutch explorers in the Cape of Good Hope, the spread of the Roman-Dutch based legal system gathered momentum and quickly became the recognised legal system of not only South Africa but the majority of African countries The situation for many years in South Africa was wherever British law does not stand, Roman-Dutch law forms the fall back to which the country looks towards to ensure clarity in its law. In the case of South Africa, which is highlighted in many ot her countries including Zimbabwe, after the Second World War, Britain and the other European colonists of Africa gradually lost influence and this led to the creation of numerous Republican regimes. The Republic of South Africa was formed in 1961, but many of English laws and facets of the English legal system were incorporated into and now form the bedrock of South African law. The current situation in South Africa is that the fundamental source of laws in the country is the 1996 Constitution, which was formed by virtue of the Constitution of South Africa Act 1996. Any law or action that breaches the provisions of this Constitution is illegal. The sources of South Africas law have been briefly explored above and will now be further elaborated upon. The current position in South Africa reflects the situation in many post-colonial African nations in terms of the sources of its legal system. It is made up of the following components: Statutory law which is formed by the legislative institution It is the codified part of the South African Law. These laws are contained in Acts and various subordinate legislation, which is passed by the Parliament of South Africa Common law, which comprises of judicial precedent taken from case law, which is based on the same tradition of precedent as that which applies in England and Wales and from case law and the Roman Dutch ‘old authorities’. Roman Dutch Law, which is prevalent throughout large parts of Southern Africa, is a legal system that is fundamentally based on Roman law. This was the legal system that was operative in the Netherlands throughout the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. There are many African countries whose legal systems are still based upon Roman Dutch law and Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia are the most prominent examples. African customary law Foreign and international law. The laws of South Africa that are not contained in Acts passed by Parliament are those based on common law. The development of the Common Law system of South Africa is made possible by the fact that the South African courts follow the UK system of legal precedent or ‘stare decisis’.

Early Christian Music Essay

Singing is an essential part of worship to God. Even the creation itself was accompanied by the singing of morning stars (KJV, Job 38:7). So, music and singing were a vital part of the Israel and in the Old Testament we may find numerous confirmations of this fact. Jesus Himself sang hymns with His disciples before His sufferings (Matthew 26:30). During the Apostolic Era, singing in temple and synagogues still united the Jewish nation, and the apostles urged the believers to sing psalms, when anyone is merry (James 5:13), and in his letter to Corinthians, when he mentioned about the order in the congregation, Paul wrote that â€Å"everyone of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1-Corinth. 14:26), where psalm is mentioned first. Psalms became the primary source texts for Christian music and liturgy establishment. Christianity, which originated from the Middle East and had spread throughout the Roman Empire during the first five centuries A. D. , was founded on the basis of the Jewish religion and, therefore, its key practices, such as the sacrificial concept and worship, are rooted and were formed from the traditions and commandments of the Old Testament. The center of Church singing became Christ, the Lord. Music was not limited by canons or regulations; it was simple and exalted, joining the loving souls. Love to the Savior Jesus Christ was so deep that the first Christians were aware of the tiniest step towards worldly and pagan influence; therefore, pomp and coddle of roman music did not attracted them. The basis of singing in the early church was music of the Temple in Jerusalem – the chant of words from the Scripture. One was leading, while the whole congregation repeated him. Other Christian singings included: â€Å"speaking to [themselves] in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in [their] hearts to the Lord† (Eph. 5:19), which represented a two-part singing by-turn; being filled with the Holy Spirit, Christians were making and singing new songs, like the new song to honor the Lamb in the Revelation of John. Pliny the Younger, the Roman appointee in Bithynia, in his report to the Roman â€Å"Early Christian Music† â€Å"Page #2† Emperor 110 A. D. , had found out that the activities of Christians are not anti-social and their meetings are simple and start with singing a hymn of praise to Christ, as God. During the Roman persecution, Christians were forced to make services in catacombs – the walls of these galleries still keep the images of singers and, moreover, the texts of hymns. Monotonous music of hymns was amazing in its austerity and exaltation at the same time. Musical instruments were not allowed because of their heathen usage. On the first council of Nicaea in 325, the persecuted church became the state one. Therefore, singing and worship, staying monotonous, was supplemented with such chants as Gallican – France, Mozarabic (Visigothic) – Spain, Old Roman, Ambrosian, and Sarum use – England (Norton, 2002) and was influenced by national differences. The second council in 381 had excluded non-Christian singing, for Christian music, enjoying the freedom for decades, had been loosing its vitality and simplicity. 100 years later, Manlius Severinus Boethius had written a five-volume book on music – De institutione musica (Fundamentals of Music) – where he had concluded writings and findings of Greek authors (Nicomachus, Ptolemy, Pythagoras, Euclid and Aristoxenus). Boethius had divided music into three categories: musica mundane – described the universe, planets, seasons – music of the spheres; musica humana – described the interrelations of body and soul; musica instrumentalis – described music performed with the help of instrument or voice (Norton, 2002). He claimed that music must be a representation of harmony, knowledge, and order. St. Ambrose and St. Gregory the Great played the most significant role in the development of early Christian music – they have left the patterns, which are now called Ambrosian and Gregorian chants, though the founders themselves had no intention to establish a canon. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, realized the need to enrich the monotonous hymn’s â€Å"Early Christian Music† â€Å"Page #3† performance and wrote a number of hymns for his church, which reproduce the psalms of David in verses. He depicted bright images, using a manifold oratorical language of Cicerone, Horatio and Vergilius. His music was simple and close to folk’s one. He introduced antiphonal singing, known in Jerusalem Temple, which represents a by-turn psalm singing of soloist, while the rest of congregation is refraining (antiphon) the verses. Besides, Ambrose had put a foundation for eight voice chorus in the West. The original form of Ambrosian chant is still kept in native Milan. Pope St. Gregory I, a son of roman Senator, who refused to serve these worldly passions, and, having sold his possessions, entered the St. Andrew’s monastery, became the first monk, who was elected to be the pope. Being devoted to liturgy, which was aimed at prayer and teaching, he advanced the plain singing as a sacred music and stressed on the importance of church music as an outer manifestation of faith that can raise man’s heart to spiritual level. This form of monophonic chant became a standard of monastery (Office) and public (the Mass) worship, as well as other services, and had been sung by choirs. This very chant had replaced Old Roman chant in Rome and has been revised and developed until the tenth century A. D. The singing itself started with â€Å"halleluiah† – the victorious exclamation of Christians after two and a half centuries of persecution. Its best samples were composed at the end of 5th century (between the invasions of Goths and Lombards), in the epoch of wars, destructions, plagues, famine, disasters – such horrifying that Gregory supposed them to be the signs of the end and presages of the Last Judgment. Yet, this singing is filled with peace and faith for the future. Therefore, the Early Christian Music was written in times of persecutions and hardships and was aimed to inspire and give faith to believers. That is why the chants and hymns of that time still restore the souls of mankind and are the basis for main services in the most of Christian world. Works Cited: Holy Bible, King James Version. Plume, 1974. Norton, W. â€Å"Music in the Early Christian Church†. Concise History of Western Music. 2002. W. W. Norton & Company. 11 Apr 2008 . Ward, Justine. â€Å"The Reform of Church Music†. The Atlantic Monthly 04 1906 1-10. 11 Apr 2008 .

Contemporary Globalization Essay

Are you a forerunner of the so called Contemporary Globalization or in your view point do you adhere to Global Diversity? This short paper is to review globalization developments and their impacts or consequences whether is it a threat to human dignity in terms of providing a safer work place and leisure to man and will it promotes democracy and justice for all (Johnston, Mont 2000)? Globalization began in the 70’s and reaches all the corners of the world through the creation of IMF, the World Bank and, WTO. Globalization was also brought about by the advance communication technology and collapse of communism (Johnston, Mont 2000). According to the Canadian Union Council (CUC), â€Å"globalization does not account of the right of conscience, and democracy is only hearsay. Trade fundamentalist works with corporate lawyers to develop trade rules which expressly exclude consideration of the environment and human rights in favor of return on investments, consideration on the rights of others are only taken into consideration only in extraordinary circumstances†. For this reason, the Council created seven principles of the UUs covenants to counter act or to balance the wave of globalization which is detrimental to the Unitarian way of thinking in which it firmly believes that uniqueness of every person must be reverently acknowledge preserving his culture. It is in diversity that a genuine human society is born. Globalization spread the culture of homogenous market and consumerism; it limits human choices because human values are dictated by market values. Manfred Steger further stated globalism in his book A New Market Ideology as â€Å"globalony†. Consequences or impacts of Globalization: Neoliberals or the globalist supported their claims on the following ideology: Globalization is market integration, inevitable and irreversible, none is in-charge and it would benefit everyone, and will further spread democracy. These are strategies in order to promote private interests of dominant few to be supported by the general public. These claims were carefully examined by Steger as he insisted that we need to critically understand what are globalism, ideology, and globalization which are a process of globalism. He also pointed out that it is not only enough to examine its economic outcome but its ideas and values (Walker 2003). It is a hard truth to accept that the human will are dictated by market trends which mean that human values are being replaced by market value or the limiting of our choices which is contrary to the free act of man. Corporations have extended on a global scale, 51 among top companies are run by the wealthiest 100 multinationals (Carmichael 2002). Steger asserted that it is undemocratic because the influence of the supranational bodies will decrease the ability of national governments to regulate multinational corporations. Wiwa in his audience with law students declare that â€Å"The governance are no longer for the benefit of the citizens, as it should be, but for corporate profit. Decisions reflect only what corporations want (Carmichael 2002)†. Anything that gets in their way must be removed at all costs, no wonder there could be a time that man will be replaced by robots. For man to survive, diversity is needed but regimes like the WTO has modeled globalization which resulted into a homogenous culture of consumerism. It sees that diversity is an impediment to the free trade. One example is the over-produced food that flooded the developing countries; it forces small farmers to abandon their farms to work for Nike and other corporations. Mexican farmer’s earnings have declined by 40%. Poverty radically increases while the stocks of multinationals increases. Ken Wiwa a physician and an author of the book â€Å"Dance the guns to Silenceâ€Å"was hanged in November 1995 for his crusade against globalization and today it is his brother Owen who continues by addressing a political science class at the University of Toronto about the consequence of globalization saying â€Å"You have that paradox whereby an increase in transnational corporations in the south will increase the poverty and conflict and wars in that country and Ten years from now you may be working in these corporations and governments so it is up to you to make an influence â€Å"(Carmichael 2002). Shell Corporation and the Ogoni people faced the dilemma between the clearing of its oil spills and the MOSOP Movement of the Ogoni People for Survival in the 1990s. Oil extraction in their country is to the detriment of its inhabitants. Sickness related to air and water pollution like asthma and other diseases outnumbered the hospital built in 1993. Though the company has left the premises they have not really removed their pipelines nor cleaned up and paid compensation to their workers. The company remained quiet and the military was no longer engaged but arrest started Wiwa stated (Carmichael 2002). Based on the above consequences, Steger’s touches the tenets of his argument that it is the human will and choices that must create market models and not the goods or the reverse wherein market limits suppressed human choices. His argument was based on the historical facts that man lords over the earth and that no society have emerged without knowing how to take care of its own. Society degrades or falls when only a privileged few are protected, when dominance is instilled prejudices and other sisters of greed appears. The value of human work diminishes and man begins to serve only his appetite and whims. Indeed, we must account for the gifts we received such as the talents endowed to us. There is a need of strengthening our world communities to use collective power to develop alternatives to Globalization and Corporate Rule. We must examine and challenge ourselves what is behind each ideology and must patronize products and services that are truly for the benefit of mankind. We must put our best efforts that wealth is distributed equitably and for the common good. We must learn to scrutinize the use of worldly goods and sharpen our values to preserve the world and the future of the next generation. References Mel Johnston, Alastair Mont, Philip Symons Calgary, Alberta 2000, the CUC Policy on Globalization, [Electronic Version]. Retrieved 01 February 2008 from, http://www. cuc. ca/social_responsibility/globalization. htm Teresa Walker 2003, Globalism: The New Market Ideology by Manfred Steger, [Electronic Version]. Retrieved 01 February 2008 from, http://www. logosjournal. com/walker. htm Stefanie Carmichael (2002). Owens Wiwa tackles consequences of globalization [Electronic Version]. The Manitoban. Retrieved 02, February 2008 from, http://www. themanitoban. com/2001-2002/0403/news_8. shtml

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