ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the integration of legal and judicial systems derived from apparently incommensurable cultural logics. It examines how British colonial officials and judges handled witchcraft cases in southern Sudan, particularly in the south-central part of Equatoria Province, and how they sought to translate 'administrative expediency' into legal discourse. The Sudan Government – unlike neighbouring colonial administrations – did not enact any specific legislation to deal with witchcraft, ensuring that courts had only the penal code with which to handle cases involving witchcraft accusations or suspicions. Colonial judges in Sudan similarly sought to determine whether culture and common belief represented a 'legitimate mitigation of crime', by constituting 'reasonable' behaviour. In early 2007, three elderly women near Yei were accused of putting poison in food and water, and were beaten until they reportedly produced the substance they had used, which was then administered to them, causing their deaths.
