| caption: |
chapter four - the village administration |
| caption: |
procedure in disputes; punishment |
| note: |
footnotes indicated by boxes within square brackets |
| text: |
A meeting of the village court of justice may be requested by both parties to a dispute acting in concert, or by one party singly, or by the kinsmen of both or either. Should one party fail to appear the case may in theory be heard undefended in his absence, but in practice this does not occur. If a party is not there in person he is represented by a kinsman or male affine, usually his wife's kin rather than his maternal kin. Women never appear in person and are represented by a male kinsman or affine even when the woman in question is a party to the case. Women are not called as witnesses and may take no part at all in either the court of justice or the village court. Kinsmen, either paternal kin, maternal kin, or wife's kin, are not responsible in the case of debt or theft by a male householder. The husband is responsible for his wife's thefts and debts and the father for those of his unmarried children. In the case of serious quarrels, such as those arising from rape, murder and adultery, the paternal kin are, with the culprit, liable to summary vengeance. [4 [Record T86810] |
