ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to establish that similarities exist in the customary laws applying to the various African communities of Malawi and reviews the principles of liability in crimes and delicts. In no branch of customary law is there so much uniformity of the general principles involved as in the laws of civil wrongs and injuries. Any human being, regardless of age, sex, marital state, mental and physical condition, social or political status, is capable of committing a civil wrong. The relationship between the wronged person and the wrongdoer is immaterial. Before illustrating the general principles of liability, a word must be said about general defences. Where a conditional forgiveness has been procured, the wrongdoer cannot rely on it as a good defence unless the condition on which the forgiveness was granted is performed or satisfied. A person who voluntarily consents to the infliction of a particular harm by the defendant cannot subsequently recover compensation in respect of that injury.
