I do not wish to trouble you with the details of the system of courts in the Sudan, which is extremely complicated, but it is necessary to sketch the bare outlines. For some time it has been true to say that the Sudan has an “integrated” system in that the Local Courts form part of the judicial hierarchy and come under the supervision of the judiciary rather than the executive. But it would be misleading to call the system “unified”, as the judiciary is split into two quite separate hierarchies: the Sharia Division of which the Grand Kadi is the head, and the Civil Division over which I have the honour to preside. Within the Civil Division there are three main types of courts: “Civil Courts” as established under the Civil Justice Ordinance, Native Courts set up under the Native Courts Ordinance in the six Northern Provinces, and Chiefs Courts set up by the Chiefs’ Courts Ordinance in the three Southern Provinces.

Few lenders are as demanding as Shylock, but nearly all share his desire to obtain as good security as they can for their loans.

The personal remedy against the borrower is often regarded as inadequate, for “a man advancing money upon mortgage wants something better than this, he wants some jus in rem, some right in certain specific things as well as the mere jus in personam that the mortgagor's covenant will give him”.

The choice of the subject of this paper has been made in order to provide, in line with the general theme of the Conference, an analysis and evaluation of the relationship between English law and customary law in the Western Region of Nigeria. An attempt will be made not only to give a general account of the past and the present position in this matter but also to indicate the directions in which, in various respects, developments appear likely to tend in the future.