Gold Coast native institutions
Book • 1903
Gold Coast Native Institutions (1903) is one of J. E. Casely Hayford's early major works, presenting detailed analysis of customary law, local governance, and institutional arrangements in the Gold Coast.
The book functions as both a legal treatise and a broader humanistic argument, aimed at influencing colonial administrators, educated Africans, and legal practitioners.
Casely Hayford marshals archival, historical, and textual evidence to argue for the legitimacy and reform of indigenous institutions within a modern constitutional framework.
The book was influential in legal education and debates over customary law in West Africa, used in law schools and cited by reformers and politicians.
It demonstrates Casely Hayford's commitment to textual rigor, citation practices, and the moral stakes of legal distinction-making in colonial governance.
The book functions as both a legal treatise and a broader humanistic argument, aimed at influencing colonial administrators, educated Africans, and legal practitioners.
Casely Hayford marshals archival, historical, and textual evidence to argue for the legitimacy and reform of indigenous institutions within a modern constitutional framework.
The book was influential in legal education and debates over customary law in West Africa, used in law schools and cited by reformers and politicians.
It demonstrates Casely Hayford's commitment to textual rigor, citation practices, and the moral stakes of legal distinction-making in colonial governance.
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Mentioned by Jeanne‑Marie Jackson as Casely Hayford's 1903 legal-humanistic treatise addressing customary law and institutions.
Jeanne-Marie Jackson, "The Letter of the Law in J. E. Casely Hayford's West Africa" (Princeton UP, 2026)
