Unveiling Colonial Ghosts: Common Law, Legal Pluralism, and Transformative Reforms in India and South Africa

The common law legal system, transplanted by British colonial rule, profoundly shaped post-colonial legal transformations in India and Commonwealth nations like South Africa, embedding principles of precedent, adversarial procedures, and rule of law while marginalizing indigenous customs. This paper examines how inherited frameworks-evident in codes like the Indian Penal Code (1860) and Civil Procedure Code (1908)—persisted post-independence, enabling social reforms such as the abolition of Sati and child marriage, yet perpetuating colonial ghosts in areas like marital rape, sedition, and the death penalty. Through comparative analysis with South Africa's hybrid Roman-Dutch-English system during apartheid and its constitutional evolution, it explores law's dual role as a tool for continuity and social transformation, aligning with themes of legal pluralism, access to justice, and rights-based movements. Ultimately, the study argues for ongoing decolonization to foster truly indigenous jurisprudence that advances equity and inclusion in diverse societies.