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ABSTRACT
Rule of law (ROL) building interventions have been critiqued for ignoring local norms and culture. This problem has defined ROL interventions in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, leading to unanticipated consequences for the law. I engage with the scholarship on ‘hybridity' and ‘friction' to theorize these unanticipated outcomes, which I label emergent hybrid legality.’ This concept reflects a highly contextualized array of emerging legal-justice ideas, practices, and institutions. These outcomes help explain why ROL building does not succeed in achieving the goals set out by interveners. My research is based on 8 months of fieldwork in Uvira, DRC.
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Notes
1 All places in this vignette are pseudonyms to protect the identity of participants, interlocutors and others.
2 All individual names and local organization names are pseudonyms to protect the identity of participants, interlocutors and others.
3 Chief.
4 The legal system.
5 Mother. Generally used to refer to any woman who has children, not only one’s own mother.
6 Previously MONUC.
7 ‘Portant organisation territoriale et administrative de la République démocratique du Congo.’
9 By traditional leaders or chefs, I am referring to those who have their position as it is passed down through a particular lineage rather than being selected by state or community.
10 This is a very local chef. A chef of ten houses (nymba kumi). This role is actually flexible. Some nyumba kumi chefs are appointed by local administrators, others are chosen locally, and still others are part of the chieftaincy system where it is still powerful for governing everyday life. This position itself thus reflects another area of hybridity in the local governance structure.
11 As with the nyumba kumi, this level of chef is not officially outlined in the DÉCRET-LOI 081. However, in Uvira, these chefs report back to the chef de quartier, who is a state representative.
12 Chieftancy.
13 Assistant chef de quartier in charge of administration.
14 The Parquet is similar to the office of the prosecutor.
15 The ‘formal’ traditional or customary system of turning to mwamis and other traditional-ethnic chefs persists, but is not necessarily dominant, especially in the cities.
16 The idea of vernacularization may have been primarily developed with the international human rights regime in mind (see Merry Citation200Citation9), but it bears mentioning that many of the changes to the Congolese legal code have been shaped by the international community, international legal norms and practices, and the international human rights regimes (Lake Citation2018).
17 Actually, it is fairly common knowledge that people cannot be arrested for not repaying a debt. However, there could have been other reasons related to the case that would lead to his arrest.
18 The law that specifically defines 18 as the legal marriage age was actually only adopted in 2016 (Law N° Citation16/Citation008 Citation2016). However, the 2006 rape law defined anyone under the age of 18 as a child with regards to sexual activity, thus activists and NGO workers were able to mobilize this law to advance their projects around ending early marriage as well.
19 At this point, everyone looks at each other knowingly and laughs. The general difficulties and problems of the legal system are a commonsense, running joke in the realm of the local legal complex.
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Holly Dunn
Holly Dunn is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of South Florida. Her research interests are in the areas of peacebuilding, post-conflict legal reform, and legal consciousness.