ABSTRACT
This chapter is an exposé of the attributes of court proceedings among the varying legal regimes on the African continent. Africa has a variety of legal systems that trace their influence to colonial history; each legal system was introduced and transmitted in a distinct “mother tongue”, hence contributing to an array of indigenous languages on the continent. Chapter 1 unveils the linguistic underpinnings of trials that support the designation, by law, of language(s) as language(s) of court, language(s) of trial, and language(s) of the record. Of note is the exploration of the “special circumstances” test as a viable complementary measure to self-evaluation in establishing a person’s linguistic comprehension ability.
