On the Edge of the Law: Women's Property Rights and Dispute Resolution in Kisii, Kenya
On the Edge of the Law: Women's Property Rights and Dispute Resolution in Kisii, Kenya
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1540-5893.2009.00366.x
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发表时间：
2009-03-01
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Joireman, Sandra F.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Henrysson, Elin;Joireman, Sandra F.
学者们认为，经济效率需要明确界定土地的所有权、承包权和转让权。这些权利的定义或执行的模糊性会导致土地交换和转让的交易成本增加，以及土地合同后的剩余不确定性。在肯尼亚，政府建立明确界定的产权和裁决机制的努力一直受到争端裁决替代程序的困扰。习惯法争议解决被誉为在法律多元化环境中替代官方司法程序的廉价替代方案。然而，我们的研究表明，习惯程序也可能带来金钱成本，使许多公民无法承受。本文比较了肯尼亚基西地区妇女财产权裁决的正式和非正式方法的成本和流程。研究结果表明，妇女总体上财产权较弱，由于涉及成本，她们利用正式争端解决系统的机会有限，甚至非正式的冲突解决系统也超出了许多公民的能力范围。
Scholars have argued that economic efficiency requires a clear definition of the rights of ownership, contract, and transfer of land. Ambiguity in the definition or enforcement of any of these rights leads to an increase in transaction costs in the exchange and transfer of land as well as a residual uncertainty after any land contract. In Kenya, government efforts at establishing clearly defined property rights and adjudication mechanisms have been plagued by the existence of alternative processes for the adjudication of disputes. Customary dispute resolution has been praised as an inexpensive alternative to official judicial processes in a legally pluralistic environment. However, our research demonstrates that customary processes may also carry a monetary cost that puts them beyond the means of many citizens. This article compares the costs and processes of the formal and informal methods of property rights adjudication for women in the Kisii region of Kenya. The research results suggest that women have weak property rights overall, they have limited access to formal dispute resolution systems because of costs involved, and even the informal systems of conflict resolution are beyond the means of many citizens.