Customary Law

Abstract

Throughout large parts of North East India, customary laws are of great importance to communities categorised as tribe, since authorised through the Indian constitution (the Sixth Schedule and Article 371A). Customary law then involves rules, regulations and practices that are of relevance, presumably, to all the members of such groups. Their integration with the general laws of the Indian state required the codification of existing customary practices. These processes of codification were initiated in the colonial era, curtailing and eradicating those elements of custom relevant to the much greater political autonomy which the areas concerned had enjoyed preceding colonial conquest. The state thus sanctioned those aspects of custom which it deemed acceptable, empowering people who locally held authority (typically senior men). As a downward extension of colonial rule (Comaroff and Comaroff 2018), the codification of customary law was instrumental in channelling the authority of the state to the local level. At the same time, in empowering people, it allowed for local level attempts to push back against the powers of the state. While many scholars have documented customary law throughout North East India (often contributing to its codification), more recent scholarship draws attention to the multilevel judicial landscapes that have emerged in the region, as well as to the processes by which codified customary laws are challenged, resulting in demands for its reinterpretation if not reformulation.