Legal Pluralism and the Challenges of Building the Rule of Law: The Evolution of Access to Justice in Francophone West Africa

In recent years, access to justice, a central subject of research in the field of West African law and justice, has been at the heart of various organizations’ intervention programs. Although the issue is not new, it has taken on different forms over time. The current variation of this debate appears to focus largely on the so-called customary laws and legal mechanisms in place in West African cultures. In some instances, they are perceived as an obstacle, competing with modern and legal institutions; in other instances, they are considered an asset in that they can relieve the judicial system of disputes that it does not know how to or cannot resolve. This article presents a critical review of the literature on this issue.