Since the 19 th century,the economic and social development in the British colony of the Gold Coast in West Africa gradually eroded the traditional principle of the communal land ownership.From the 1870s to the early 20th century,the British colonial government adopted land policies encouraging the land privatisation and increasing the governmental intervention.In 1907,Colonial Chief Justice Griffith ruled in the case of'Lokko versus Konklofi'that stool lands could be converted into private lands under certain conditions.However,in 1912,after investigating the land issues of the Gold Coast,the West Africa Lands Commission found Griffith's judgement legally unsound and argued that such encouragement of the land privatisation could have severe consequences threatening the colonial rule.The Commission advocated for the protection of traditional customs and the maintenance of the customary land system.The critique of the case of'Lokko versus Konklofi'by the West Africa Lands Commission represented internal demands within the British government to adjust colonial land policies during that period.Influenced by that perspective,the British land policies in the Gold Coast and the West African colonies gradually shifted towards protecting the community lands from the 1920s onwards.This land policy transformation actually reflected the political and economic logic of the British government's shift from direct rule to indirect rule in the colonies.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
