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Paper short abstract:

Although constantly criticized, Beninese state courts have been increasingly referred to for the last few years. In order to investigate this paradox, I will focus on the "customers", their perception of public service and the use that they ultimately make of it.

Paper long abstract:

"Poor people are never right". In Benin, most citizens are rather skeptical towards their justice system. Judges are portrayed as corrupt and their clerks as too poorly paid to withstand the same "temptations". And yet Beninese state courts are constantly utilized: in 2010, 11,367 civil cases were introduced before the various first degree courts. This is why rather than concentrating on state bureaucrats and their practices, I chose to focus on the customers, their perception of public service and what use they ultimately make of it.

As a striking example, inheritance disputes are constantly brought up before the jurisdictions. I will therefore try and understand the processes of those families who decide to "refer to the state" in inheritance cases. I will first focus on what happens "before the law" and on family negotiations. What are the reasons justifying - or delaying - legal action? I will then overview people's experiences of Beninese public services, wondering about the access and cost of justice. I will focus on the end result, and on the customers' satisfaction towards this constantly criticized, yet also increasingly mobilized bureaucracy. Eventually, I will analyze people's discourses regarding Justice and the State, all of which using both participant observation in Court and interviews with family members.

In other words, I will focus on legal consciousness within Beninese families, on how the laws and the institutions supposed to be enforcing them are perceived, experienced and utilized.