Cameroon’s Bilingual Legal System: Challenges and Opportunities for Young Lawyers
Nadine Bouba
Cameroon’s courts carry the imprint of two colonial legacies: French civil law in the east and English common law in the west. That bijural (or “dual”) system is neither merely historical trivia nor an academic curiosity it shapes how citizens access justice, how lawyers are trained, and how legal disputes are resolved. For a new generation of Cameroonian lawyers, that duality is at once an obstacle and a strategic advantage. Understanding both sides of that coin is the single most important career decision a young lawyer in Cameroon can make today.
The structural problem: different systems, one country
The union of formerly separate territories in 1961 created a country with two deeply rooted legal traditions. Over decades that union has been administratively consolidated, but the law still reflects the split: different procedural rules, different case-law sources, different legal education pathways and courtroom languages. For everyday litigants this can mean confusion; for lawyers it means navigating inconsistent rules and expectations when cases cross regional lines. Those legal frictions are not theoretical — they affect case outcomes, legal strategy and the perceived legitimacy of courts.
Language is law and a barrier to fair trial
Language is not neutral in a bijural system. Court forms, precedents, statutes and regulatory texts are drafted in French or English (and often translated imperfectly, if at all). This produces practical problems: evidence and submissions can lose nuance in translation; judges and lawyers may struggle when forced to operate in their non-native legal tongue; and litigants can feel excluded from proceedings conducted in a language they do not fully command. Researchers and practitioners alike have documented how communication gaps in Cameroon’s courts undermine the right to a fair trial and the quality of advocacy. For young lawyers, neglecting the language dimension is to ignore a central feature of legal practice in Cameroon.
The Anglophone crisis widened the professional faultlines
Since 2016 the political and security crisis in the two Anglophone regions has worsened access to courts, disrupted legal education and put practicing lawyers at risk including through arrests, trials by military courts and displacement. The crisis has also intensified mistrust between communities and the central institutions of justice, making the practice of law riskier and more politicized in affected areas. Young lawyers coming of age during this period face the job-market consequences of shrinking formal judicial activity, but also new demand for expertise in human-rights litigation, documentation, transitional justice and cross-border legal work.
Commercial law a route to bilingual advantage
On the commercial side, regional integration instruments such as OHADA (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) have created modern, harmonized commercial rules that bind Cameroon. Yet the implementation of OHADA in anglophone areas is uneven: translations lag, and practitioners in common-law regions sometimes find the civil-law framing unfamiliar. That gap opens a practical, high-value opportunity for lawyers who can bridge OHADA’s French-based texts and the commercial needs of English-speaking clients especially in corporate compliance, cross-border transactions and dispute resolution. Young lawyers who build competence in OHADA instruments and commercial practice will find high demand from businesses and international investors.
Where young lawyers are most needed and can most quickly add value
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Bilingual litigation and translation expertise. Lawyers fluent in both legal English and legal French including the technical vocabulary of both systems are rare and therefore prized. Translating legal instruments accurately and drafting bilingual pleadings are marketable skills.
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Human-rights and transitional-justice practice. Documentation, strategic litigation and advocacy for victims of abuses in the Anglophone regions are urgent needs that also offer young lawyers a path to build reputations and international networks.
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Commercial and OHADA-specialist practice. Advising SMEs, fintechs, and cross-border investors that must navigate OHADA rules particularly where English-speaking entrepreneurs need francophone-compliant documents is an expanding niche.
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Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ADR can bypass some linguistic and procedural deadlocks; young lawyers trained as mediators and arbitrators can create pragmatic access-to-justice pathways while building private practice revenue.
Practical steps for law schools, bars and young lawyers
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Curriculum reform: Law faculties should offer parallel or integrated modules in civil- and common-law doctrine, taught in both languages. Clinic programs that expose students to real bilingual cases will accelerate readiness for practice.
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Language-legal training: Short courses that teach “legal English” for francophone students and “legal French” for anglophone students (with a focus on drafting and statutory interpretation) should be scaled up.
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Bar collaboration and cross-posting: The national bar and regional bar associations should negotiate exchange programs so lawyers can clerk or practice temporarily in the other system to build cross-jurisdictional competence.
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Donor and pro bono support: International donors and NGOs should fund translation of key statutes and OHADA acts, support ADR centers, and underwrite legal aid in conflict-affected regions.
A call to ambition and responsibility
For young Cameroonian lawyers, the bijural system is not simply a hurdle to overcome. It is a comparative advantage if approached strategically. Bilingualism in law confers market access: regional business work, international human-rights litigation, and high-stakes arbitration increasingly reward practitioners who can translate legal concepts literally and doctrinally across systems. But talent alone is not enough. The legal profession, state institutions, universities and funders must invest in training, translations and legal infrastructure to ensure that duality becomes a source of strength rather than a driver of exclusion.
Legal Africa’s readers whether deans shaping curricula, bar leaders who police standards, or young lawyers at the outset of their careers should see this moment as a practical invitation. Build linguistic competence. Seek apprenticeship in the “other” system. Advocate for translated law and practical ADR. Cameroon’s future of justice will be decided in courtrooms where language, law and legitimacy intersect and the next generation of lawyers can choose whether to be sidelined by that reality or to lead its transformation.
