When the colonial government of the British colony of Sierra Leone annexed the so-called interior as a Protectorate in 1896, a judicial infrastructure was implemented there rapidly. However, this process was not started in a legal vacuum, so that the relationship between colonial and local law had to be reconfigured in a colonial setting dedicated to the indirect rule system. This delicate negotiation was further challenged by accusations of ‘cannibal murder’ all over the Protectorate from the 1880s up to the 1930s, leading to the establishment of Native Courts.
Document produced during the colonial investigation in search of “native laws” require a thorough analysis in order to reveal the ways in which local legal norms were perceived, misconceived or simply remained unintelligible. Moreover, papers from court cases at the edge of central colonial and Native Courts offer insights into local legal systems confronted with the colonial state: Crime was punished discretely and communicated in a metaphorical language that confused Western lawyers and judges – often with fatal consequences. These cases picture a despaired colonial government trying to get rid of legal accusations they could not decode by creating native laws.