Women's rights of succession to property in Uganda: reform propositions

Kafumbe, Anthony Luyirika (2006) Women's rights of succession to property in Uganda: reform propositions. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Articles 2(a)-(f) and 16(1)(h) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) prohibit discrimination and enjoin State parties to ensure substantive equality between men and women in marriage and family relations. To ensure compliance with the CEDAW, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) examines State parties' periodic reports and makes pertinent observations. In 1985 by ratifying the CEDAW without any reservations, Uganda willingly undertook to make her laws and institutions regulating rights of succession to property compliant with the CEDAW. On 9th August 2002 the CEDAW Committee expressed concern over the country's state-made and non-state-made laws of marriage and succession. Uganda was called upon to remove, in family relations, among others, de jure discrimination and eliminate de facto discrimination against her women. With the above concerns in mind, this dissertation primarily measures Uganda's laws and institutions regulating rights of succession to property with the standards set by the CEDAW. To clarify rights of succession to property, however, laws and institutions regulating rights to property in marriage and upon divorce are also juxtaposed against the said CEDAW standards. The dissertation suggests reforms with a view to making Uganda's said laws and institutions compliant with Articles 2(a)-(f) and 16(1)(h) of the CEDAW. Whilst some of the law reform propositions are based on intuition, given that countries rarely improve their laws without looking at what other jurisdictions are doing, this dissertation has sought progressive ideas from the English, Scots and South African laws and institutions regulating rights to property in marriage, upon divorce and upon the death of a spouse. While there is legal pluralism in Uganda's laws and institutions regulating women's rights to property in marriage, upon divorce and upon the death of a spouse, such pluralism should not prevail over compliance with Articles 2(a)-(f) and 16(1)(h) of the CEDAW, as an international legal imperative: women's rights to property in Uganda may be regulated by state-made, customary and Islamic family laws and institutions so long as compliance with Articles 2(a)-(f) and 16(1)(h) of the CEDAW is guaranteed.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: K Law > K Law (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Supervisor's Name: Hiram, Ms. Hilary
• Date of Award: 2006
• Depositing User: Mrs Marie Cairney
• Unique ID: glathesis:2006-7214
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 07 Apr 2016 14:14
• Last Modified: 08 Apr 2016 13:45
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/7214