Manfred O. Hinz

Prof. Manfred O Hinz studied law and philosophy at the University of Mainz, Germany, where he graduated in law. He did his legal practitioner examination in 1964, the year in which he also obtained his PhD from the University of Mainz. After studying anthropology, sociology and African and Oriental languages at the same university, he became assistant lecturer, teaching anthropology and public law. In 1971, he was appointed full Professor at the University of Bremen. In 1989, he went to Namibia where, after its independence in 1990, he assisted the Ministry of Justice in the restructuring of the administration of traditional justice and to compile an inventory of customary law. He was later seconded to the office of the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Namibia (UNAM) to help build the first institution for legal education on Namibian soil: UNAM’s Faculty of Law. He joined the Faculty upon its inception, where he served as Deputy Dean and, later, Dean of the Faculty. Prof. Hinz holds the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation Chair for Human Rights and Democracy in the Law Faculty’s Human Rights and Documentation Centre. Prof. Hinz has published widely in his areas of specialisation, particularly in the fields of legal and political anthropology, and constitutional and international (economic) law. Latest publications: Hinz, MO & HK Patemann (Eds). 2006. The shade of new leaves: Governance in traditional authority – A southern African perspective. Münster: LIT Verlag; Hinz, MO & OC Ruppel (Eds). 2008. Biodiversity and the ancestors: Challenges to customary and environmental law. Case studies from Namibia. Windhoek: Namibia Scientific Society.

Books

Knowledge lives in the lake

Edited by: Manfred O. Hinz, Oliver C. Ruppel and Clever Mapaure

274 p. • 2012 • ISBN 978-99916-855-8-8 • 170 x 240 mm

This book presents research within the framework of the international Biodiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa (BIOTA) Project. The BIOTA Project was inspired by a movement translating the demand for sustainable development into international and national policies. It was fortunate that some of the questions dealt with in the BIOTA Project could be continued in a new initiative, namely the Future of the Okavango (TFO) Project, which is still in progress. The focus of the TFO Project is the sustainability of the Kavango River Basin, which spans from Angola through Namibia to Botswana. Some of the contributions in this volume mark the interface between the BIOTA and TFO Projects. The emphasis on water and water management in other contributions expresses this interface well.

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In Search of Justice and Peace
Traditional and Informal Justice Systems in Africa

Edited by Manfred O. Hinz in cooperation with Clever Mapaure

463 p. • 2010 • ISBN 978-99916-40-92-1 • 170 x 240 mm

In Search of Justice and Peace offers articles about the very complex efforts undertaken by communities in various parts of Africa to secure justice and peace at the local level – sometimes in contrast to states, which ignore the local desire for justice or fail to provide their citizens with what a state is expected to provide, and sometimes in tandem with the institutions of the state. Traditional and informal justice systems have attracted the interest of scholars and international organisations alike.