UNEARTHING THE RELEVANCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CUSTOMARY ARBITRATION UNDER AFRICAN JURISPRUDENCE

Abstract

Over the years, customary arbitration has played very important role in maintenance of peace and coexistence among the people indigenous to Africa. Generically, arbitration is a form private settlement of dispute. It is a form of dispute resolution mechanism outside the normal court proceeding. In Africa, until the introduction of western methodology in the administration of justice and subsequent classification of disputes into civil and criminal, arbitration had remained the tool for social equilibrium and management of cohesion among the indigenes. Due to advance in technology, artificial intelligence becomes germane in every field of human endeavour including settlement of disputes. The objective of this paper is to unearth the relevance of artificial intelligence in customary arbitration under African jurisprudence. The paper was commenced by reviewing the modus operandi of the customary arbitration in Africa. For this purpose, the paper adopted a doctrinal research method. It was discovered among others that the dichotomy of disputes into civil and criminal by the western adjudication system had downplayed the scope of customary arbitration in Africa among other challenges. Codification of African dispute settlement system methodology is also a challenge, hence the need to employ artificial intelligence. It was based on the foregoing that recommendations were made among which is the use of artificial intelligence in customary arbitration in Africa.