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Abstract

This paper examines elite mobilisation and norm contestation within The Gambia's pluralistic legal framework, encompassing common, customary, and Sharia law, in the context of implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Despite ratification and domestic legislation, implementation has been significantly challenged by religious leaders and traditional authorities who mobilised resistance against key CRC provisions, including prohibitions on child marriage, child labour, and female genital mutilation (FGM), citing incompatibility with local customs and beliefs. This resistance manifested both implicitly through neglect and explicitly through direct contestation. The paper highlights the tension between civil society organisations and international human rights advocates on one side, and local elites leveraging legal pluralism to preserve customary practices on the other. It argues that top-down norm implementation without accommodation of local values inevitably invites resistance, particularly in pluralistic societies of the Global South. Contributing to broader discourse on norm diffusion and contestation, the paper suggests that successful implementation of international norms in societies like The Gambia requires a hybrid approach, one that meaningfully engages local communities and respects cultural and religious contexts while upholding global human rights standards.

Bahasa Abstract

Artikel ini mengkaji mobilisasi elit dan kontestasi norma dalam kerangka hukum pluralistik Gambia yang mencakup hukum umum (common law), hukum adat (customary law), dan hukum Syariah, dalam konteks implementasi Konvensi Hak-Hak Anak (Convention on the Rights of the Child/CRC). Meskipun konvensi telah diratifikasi dan legislasi domestik telah diberlakukan, implementasinya mendapat tantangan signifikan dari pemimpin agama dan otoritas tradisional yang memobilisasi penolakan terhadap ketentuan-ketentuan utama CRC, termasuk larangan perkawinan anak, pekerja anak, dan female genital mutilation (FGM), dengan alasan ketidaksesuaiannya dengan adat dan kepercayaan lokal. Resistensi ini termanifestasi baik secara implisit melalui pengabaian maupun secara eksplisit melalui kontestasi langsung. Artikel ini menyoroti ketegangan antara organisasi masyarakat sipil dan para advokat hak asasi manusia internasional di satu sisi dan elit lokal yang memanfaatkan pluralisme hukum untuk mempertahankan praktik adat di sisi lain. Artikel ini berargumen bahwa implementasi norma secara top-down tanpa mengakomodasi nilai-nilai lokal niscaya akan memicu resistensi, khususnya di masyarakat pluralistik di Global South. Sebagai kontribusi pada wacana difusi dan kontestasi norma yang lebih luas, artikel ini menyarankan bahwa keberhasilan implementasi norma internasional di masyarakat seperti Gambia memerlukan pendekatan hibrida yang secara bermakna melibatkan komunitas lokal serta menghormati konteks budaya dan agama setempat, seraya tetap menjunjung tinggi standar hak asasi manusia global

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