CUSTOMARY LAWS STILL RELEVANT IN NE

Customary Laws: An Overview

Definition and Characteristics:

• Customary Laws: Traditions and practices treated as legal norms due to their cultural and social significance.
• Components:
• Customary principles, rules, and codes of conduct.
• Oral traditions, adaptable and evolving in nature.
• Enforced by traditional institutions through sanctions.

Traditional Institutions in the Northeast:

• Role: Act as custodians of customary laws, often functioning as courts at village, regional, and community levels.
• Examples:
  • Adi: Kebang
  • Apatani: Buliyang
  • Nyishi: Nyelle
  • Tripura Jamatia: Hoda
  • Khasi (Meghalaya): Dorbar Shnong
  • Ao Nagas: Putu Menden

Salient Features of customary laws of ethnic groups of North East:

• Dispute Resolution:
  • Addresses land, property, family, marriage, and divorce issues.
  • Heavily relies on local traditions without involving modern courts.
• Inheritance Systems:
  • Most societies are patrilineal, tracing lineage and inheritance through male lines.
  • Few exceptions (e.g., Khasi, Garo, Jaintia – matrilineal).
• Land Management:
  • Involves jhum cultivation and clan-specific lands.
  • Marital restrictions within clans to maintain lineage purity.
• Gender Roles:
  • Bride price: Reflects the value of women.
  • Gender biases: Limited inheritance rights and exclusion from decision-making in traditional governance.

Customary Laws and Indian Constitution:

• Sixth Schedule: Provisions for safeguarding tribal traditions and governance.
• Special Articles: For Nagaland and Mizoram, recognizing customary practices.
• Endorsed by colonial studies (e.g., Verrier Elwin’s A Philosophy of NEFA) and Nehru’s Panchsheel principles.

Gender Issues:

• Gender bias exists in areas like property inheritance and governance roles.
• Some societies allow situational adjustments, reflecting slow progress toward equity.

Synergy with the Regular Justice System:

• Tribal justice serves as an alternative dispute redressal mechanism.
• Legal pluralism facilitates coexistence, as highlighted by the 80th Parliamentary Standing Committee Report.
• Potential exists for blending tribal and modern systems for holistic justice.