Vector of the doctrinal construction of customary law in 1930’s Belgian Congo? The Bulletin des Juridictions Indigènes et du Droit Coutumier Congolais

In the 1920’s, the Belgian Colonial State was achieving his cruising speed. This was especially due to the incomes of the Katanga’s mining region. To maintain their position of domination, the Belgian colonial authorities were well aware of the law’s power and its application. The recently founded (1910) and cosmopolitan city Elisabethville was the centre of this changing society. Antoine Sohier (1885-1963), a catalyst of the legal science of the colony, created there the Société d’Études Juridiques du Katanga (Katanga Legal Studies Society) in September 1924. With the aim to adopt an instrument to circulate its conceptions, the Revue de droit et de la jurisprudence du Katanga was created in November 1924. The Journal’s objective was to offer fixity and intelligibility to legal principles and customary law in Katanga. In 1933, Sohier heightened it creating the supplement the Bulletin des Juridictions Indigènes et du Droit Coutumier Congolais (BJIDCC), in order to reinforce the study of customary law in the Belgian Congo. What do we learn in these journals about the Belgian colonial magistrates ? What were their social networks (intellectual and social circles) ? How did they exchange with other colonial corps (missionaries, territorial agents, …) ? How did these magistrates contribute, through their publications, to the development of a « Congolese » law and judicial thought ? We will try to answer these questions