| Summary: | Customary Law in Yemen : Nature and Development This chapter is a translation from Rashâd al-'Alîmî's Tribal justice in Yemeni Society, which mainly focuses on the nature of custom in Yemen. The author highlights the different and ancient origins of custom, especially the importance of pre-Islamic customs and later works of customary norms, compiled in a turbulent political context. He then examines the relations between custom and Islamic law (sharî'a), as being sometimes contradictory (for example as regards the definition of personal status), but more often complementary. These complex relations complicate the legislative work in contemporary Yemen. The chapter concludes with an examination of customary norms in regard to the nature of penalties for damaging bodily integrity and goods and an exposition of the nature of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in customary law.
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