The progressive judicial policy failed because administrators lacked knowledge of the customs they oversaw

Evidence

Yet it was questionable from the outset whether the achievement of such a “progressive” civilization was possible through the means en- visioned by the French. The new courts were only as effective as the men who presided over them. Any success in developing African so- ciety in the manner prescribed by Roume was contingent upon first- hand knowledge of the institutions that had to be changed. Roume had recognized the need for such knowledge when he instructed his subordinates to classify the prevalent customs in their respective ad- ministrative districts. But there was no follow-up to these instruc- tions before World War J. Dakar’s silence meant that the adminis- trators had to acquaint themselves with the law that they were sup- posed to be respecting during this period. Although a few complied, many remained more ignorant. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 321

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• XREF: Connects to the common colonial pattern where stated policy and on-the-ground practice diverge.

Related

• France’s progressive judicial reform failed because administrators remained ignorant of African customs (similarity 0.94)
• French administrators lacked real knowledge of the African customs they were charged to reform (similarity 0.93)
• Colonial governors and Dakar clashed over whether courts should force custom change (similarity 0.83)
• Under-resourced administrators weakened the intended legal reforms from the start. (similarity 0.82)
• Overstretched, inexperienced colonial administrators undermined the paper ideals of judicial reform. (similarity 0.81)
• Early French native court law declared civilization goals but left local enforcement to discretion (similarity 0.81)
• Rising shares of French colonial administrators had legal training, but only in Roman law (similarity 0.81)
• Failed colonial policy was blamed on African noncompliance rather than the strategy (similarity 0.80)
• France justified colonial judicial control in 1903 through civilization, economics, and state power (similarity 0.80)
• Colonial courts were meant to reshape African social values through jurisprudence (similarity 0.80)
• Colonial administrators sought to reconcile customary law with French control (similarity 0.79)
• France classified African customs in order to reshape them toward French natural-law principles (similarity 0.79)
• Civilian administration replaced military rule to actually implement the civilizing mission (similarity 0.79)
• French policy respected African custom only when it did not clash with civilization (similarity 0.78)
• French courts in West Africa aimed to revolutionze native justice through judicial intervention (similarity 0.78)