Paper short abstract:

Although State laws still struggle to prevail and domain over traditional and customary law, the recognition of the latter as an official source of law can play an important role for peace and reduce social unrest and can also help political actors to spread their influence.

Paper long abstract:

This paper intends to provide an assessment and the comprehension of the reception and expression of the different kinds of customary law on the official legal framework of Portuguese-speaking countries that were under Portuguese domain along the 18th and 19th centuries as well as the way both interact since the times European settlers accelerated the occupation process of the African continent. Therefore, it is necessary to start to identify the general historical framework making also a brief incursion through the colonization campaigns operated since the second half of the 18th century until the first decades of the 20th century. Subsequently, an emphasis is given to the post-independence period, being particularly relevant the dissemination of nationalist and pro-unity ideologies of the newly formed States, as well as the relations and the assertion of the new official authorities and regimes with the structures, communities and expressions of customary law.