Witchcraft and British Colonial Law

Opening Paragraph When the early colonial legislators were first called upon to deal with the problem of witchcraft in Africa, the official view was the sceptical English one, but this had in practice to recognize the native's general and whole-hearted belief in the supernatural element in magical claims. The law therefore summarily dismissed the practitioner's pretentions to occult powers, but at the same time it was forced to take account of the numerous occasions on which magic furnished the powerful motive for some course of action. Certain anomalies therefore occur in the various ordinances, and some curious discrepancies are to be found in the records of cases tried under them.