Research methods

PROPERTY[IN]JUSTICE examines the theoretical, commercial, procedural, and substantive dimensions to property rights in land across international law. Accordingly, the team is combining traditional legal methods, such as the analysis of international and national instruments, jurisprudence, travaux préparatoires (drafting histories), and case law, with socio-legal methods, including fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with key actors involved in selected case studies in Ireland, Kenya, South Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The choice of countries reflects the experience and heritage of the project team, who come from Ireland, Kenya, South Africa, and Grenada, respectively. There is also an important historical dimension since land law in our respective jurisdictions was heavily influenced by (British) colonial law. To what extent is international law perpetuating or confronting colonial understandings of land?