The underlying reason for this book is a concern about the social impact of legal professions on "development" and "underdevelopment" and on the capacity of the mass of people in the countries studied (who are poor by any standards) to use law to better their social condition.
Part of the book is a collection of empirical and historical studies of lawyers in various Third World countries. These studies offer data and insights of value to legal and other scholars of the countries and regions examined; material for historians of colonial societies; contributions to theories of professionalism and the sociology of occupational groups, evidence to support theories which link characteristics of legal professions with characteristics of the political economy within which they exist.
An overview essay discusses different paradigms which have influenced thinking about development and the significance of lawyers in it, and different approaches which may affect the study and evaluation of legal professions. The country studies come next. The concluding chapters set out some generalizations about social factors which have influenced the history and character of Third World professions and the social impact of professions, notably on the rural poor. Generally, the case studies suggest that legal professions contribute to the kind of highly skewed distribution of wealth and power now characteristic of many Third World polities. A final chapter explores the implications of these findings for alternative approaches to development.
This book concentrates on texts relating to Africa and African refugee problems. It contains treaties (i. e. legally binding agreements upon states, which have ratified or acceded to the treaty) relating to asylum, refugees and stateless persons; extracts of some of the universal treaties defining human rights; and treaties on jurisdiction and extradition.