Namibia has a 'hybrid' or 'mixed' legal system,[1] formed by the interweaving of a number of distinct legal traditions: a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous Africans (often termed African Customary Law, of which there are many variations depending on the tribal origin).
These traditions have had a complex interrelationship, with the English influence most apparent in procedural aspects of the legal system and methods of adjudication, and the Roman-Dutch influence most visible in its substantive private law.
Basutoland (Lesotho) received the law of the Cape Colony in 1884, and Bechuanaland (Botswana) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) received it in 1891.
[3] Swaziland received the law of the Transvaal Colony in 1904,[3] and South-West Africa (Namibia) received the law of the Cape Province in 1920, after its conquest by South Africa.
Certain specialised courts have also been provided for by the legislature, in order to avoid backlog in the main legal administration infrastructure.