非洲传统宗教与习惯法的发展

African Traditional Religion and the Development of Customary Law

自古以来,人们就非常关注法律与宗教的关系问题。法律与宗教是辩证地相互依赖,一方的存在不能缺失另一方。在非洲,传统宗教与习惯法相互依存,相互渗透,相互影响,展示一幅水乳交融,共同发展的图景。非洲社会的发展离不开信仰和神话,所以传统宗教有关至上神、祖先祭祀、图腾崇拜、禁忌和巫术等的信仰,以及口耳相传的表现形式不仅成为习惯法发展的基础,而且也是习惯法从古至今都被非洲大部分国家所沿用的原因所在。可以说,非洲传统宗教对习惯法发展的影响主要表现为,在表现形式上,口述传承色彩浓厚;在管理模式上,体现非洲人特殊的价值理念;在诉讼审判中,奉行神明裁决;在刑罚观念上,崇尚神威惩罚。

Since the ancient time, people have paid more attention to the relationship of the law and the religion. They rely on each other dialectically, one can not exist without the other. In Africa, the traditional religion and the customary law are interdependence, interinfihration and interaction, which cause a prospect of perfect harmony and common development. The development of African society depends on the faith and the myth, therefore the tradition- al religion, which contains the faith, such as olodumare, ancestry consecrating, totem worship, taboo, witchcraft, ect, and its oral manifestation, has become the foundation of the development of customary law, and this is also the reason why most African states continue to use the customary law form the past to the present. In a word, the impacts of traditional religion on customary law can be seen from following aspects：the continuity way of using the oral mani- festation, the administration way of running the country or tribe reflects the special values of African people, deities＇ verdict is been used frequently in the litigation, the concept of divinities＇ punishment is been accepted widely by the African people.