Criminal Justice
Law & Justice
The Architecture of Cameroon's Judicial System
This post maps the formal structure of Cameroon's courts and legal personnel—from magistrates and registrars to judicial police, bailiffs, notaries, and lawyers—detailing their distinct roles and jurisdictions.
The Tenor Case and the Performance of Justice
The writer examines the public appearance of a musician facing criminal charges related to a fatal car accident, arguing that his attendance at an awards ceremony—and his conduct there—represents a troubling disregard for legal process and the gravity of involuntary manslaughter.
The Law Works: What Cameroonians Don't Know About Their Own System
The writer reflects on three personal arrests in Cameroon and the broader cultural distrust of the legal system, arguing that ordinary citizens lack basic knowledge of their rights and how law actually operates—a gap that leaves them vulnerable to corruption, intimidation, and worse outcomes than the law itself would impose.
45 Minutes in Police Custody: The Anglophone Crisis and Extrajudicial Practice
The writer recounts an arbitrary arrest in Buea during the Anglophone crisis, detained without stated cause and coerced toward bribery. The incident illustrates the normalization of lawlessness among security forces deployed to Anglophone regions, where curfews are enforced by assumption rather than announcement, and the constitution itself has become negotiable.