To launch a new journal is an act of faith; it is also an act of recognition. An act of faith, because the editors and publishers of the journal will naturally ask themselves where the readership is to come from, which is to make the journal viable. An act of recognition, because the new journal officially marks, at least in the minds of its begetters, the recognition that a new area of theoretical study or practical action has now defined itself, which has hitherto been unrecognised or insufficiently provided for by the journals already in existence. As the first editor of this Journal, and the only member of the original Editorial Committee still serving the Journalin that capacity, I may be permitted to indulge in a personal reflection on the motives and background to the launching of the Journal of African Law in 1957.

The launching of the Journal of African Law in 1957 seemed a bold venture. It was less than ten years since African law, as a subject of study in its own right, had received its first recognition in legal circles in this country, whether academic or professional; and there were as yet comparatively few who appreciated its importance or its capacity for development.

The attainment of twenty years in the lifetime of a learned journal such as the Journal of African Law is an occasion which deserves to be commemorated. As one of its many readers I should like to pay my tribute to the editors and contributors on their efforts at fostering the study of the laws in Africa during the past two decades.

During the last two or three decades there have been a number of significant developments in the application of Islamic law in Africa. Most of these are discussed in some detail in my recent book, Law Reform in the Muslim World, so I will confine myself here to the barest summary.

“Contempt of court” in the English legal system has been variously defined as “failure to comply with an order of a superior court, or an act of resistance or insult to the court, or the judges; conduct likely to prejudice the fair trial of an accused person” (Osborn, 1964: 86), and as “any conduct that tends to bring the authority and administration of the law into disrespect or disregard, or to interfere with or prejudice parties litigant or their witnesses during the litigation” (Borrie and Lowe, 1973: 1, quoting Oswald).

L’Algérie, aux lendemains de son indépendance (juillet 1962), ne pouvait maintenir le système colonial contre lequel elle s’était battue. Elle devait done procéder à une décolonisation. Cette décolonisation se réalisa d’abord à travers la révolution industrielle, sans être achevée pour autant. Cette révolution industrielle est destinée à garantir Pindépendance économique du pays. Elle s’est traduite notamment par la nationalisation des secteurs-clefs de l’économie, dont le pétrole et le gaz naturel, et par l’édification constante de nouvelles entreprises. Ces nationalisations, au point de vue patrimonial, sont accompagnées, au point de vue social, de la création du secteur socialiste des entreprises.