Focus and Scope

Aims & Scope:
The Journal Lex Traditionis is a leading biannual, peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of traditional, customary, and indigenous legal systems through the lens of legal anthropology. The journal emphasizes the theoretical and ethnographic examination of law as a cultural phenomenon.

Aims
The core aims of Lex Traditionis are to:

  • Advance Theoretical Understanding: To publish high-quality, rigorous research that contributes to the theoretical development of Legal Anthropology and the Sociology of Law, particularly concerning non-state law.
  • Document and Analyze Systems: To provide in-depth, ethnographic analysis and comparative documentation of lex non scripta (unwritten law), customary governance, and traditional dispute resolution mechanisms globally.
  • Explore Intersections: To critically examine the complex intersections between traditional legal practices, state legal apparatuses, and international human rights frameworks.
  • Promote Decolonial Perspectives: To serve as a platform for scholars challenging Eurocentric legal paradigms by giving primacy to Indigenous and Traditional jurisprudences.

Scope
Lex Traditionis invites original submissions on topics including, but not limited to:

  • Ethnographies of Law: Field-based research detailing the practice, enforcement, and cultural meaning of customary law (Hukum Adat) in various societies.
  • Legal Pluralism and Conflict: Studies analyzing how individuals and communities navigate multiple legal systems simultaneously, and the conflicts arising from legal dualism.
  • Traditional Justice Systems: Analysis of adat courts, elders' councils, restorative justice models, and traditional mediation techniques.
  • Law and Material Culture: Research on the role of rituals, objects, and territory in defining and enforcing traditional legal norms (e.g., traditional ecological knowledge and land tenure).
  • History and Evolution of Customary Law: Historical analyses of the transformation of traditional legal systems under colonialism and post-colonial statehood.