ABSTRACT
The former category includes most of the British colonial territories, and also, as far as rural areas are concerned, the Union of South Africa. In many tribes, under indigenous law, divorce can be effected by extra-judicial arrangement; and even where this is not recognized, the jurisdiction of the courts is not, as a rule, limited by any rigid or precisely defined list of ‘grounds for divorce’. A somewhat similar list of grounds for divorce is contained in the codified rules for native customary marriage in the French Trust Territory of Cameroun. The recognition of the husband’s adultery as a ground on which a wife may demand a divorce involves a far greater departure from the principles of indigenous African law, and there are few instances in which any such change has been attempted. The right to custody of children is a very frequent subject of dispute where the marriage relationship is broken by death, divorce, or separation.
