APCJ_1528_Win2010_00i_122_4 12/30/10 3:22 PM Page 3 Integrating Principles and Practices in Somaliland 3 sis and transformation theory and techniques and invites elders to speak in class about traditional methods of conflict resolution. Interaction and exchange of this type deepen understanding for all participants and will help prepare additional actors to address Somaliland’s conflicts. There are certain security issues related to fighting between clans, killings that take place across clan lines, and regional issues that might benefit from the harmonization of customary law and Somaliland’s civil law. Currently, these two systems of law compete with each other, instead of forming a coherent and connected legal system. An important area of consideration in the harmonization process might be the documentation of customary law processes and rulings. At present, this has not occurred, but if it does, such documentation could provide information to civil courts for appealing a ruling by the elders. Customary law procedures provide the possibility of rejecting a ruling by the elders, but there is no appeal process of that ruling once it has been accepted by the parties involved. This approach has worked for millennia, but there are now more complex issues, such as those related to human rights concerns, regional and global political and economic factors, as well as a growing legal body of knowledge within Somaliland’s governance structure. Therefore, the need for harmonization is timely and essential, and as noted, could best be accomplished though an innovative integration of traditional methods and existing legal frameworks. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The traditional or customary law practices of Somaliland and the international values and practices found in the conflict transformation and restorative justice fields are related and can inform each other in important ways. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on an integrated peacebuilding model that incorporates conflict transformation and restorative justice principles and practices as well as other factors that help transform conflicts and stabilize societies.8 These principles and practices include development, security, education, religion, leadership, and governance, along with reconciliation, identity and worldview formation, and trauma healing. Customary law and conflict transformation are examined through various aspects of the framework for the purpose of understanding their similarities and differences and how they might be harmonized in the Somaliland context. Customary law’s principles and the related values that underlie its practice—including listening, patience, honesty, fairness, flexibility, nonviolence, and reconciliation—are compared with the values and practices of conflict transformation that international mediators, negotiators, and restorative justice practitioners strive to incorporate in their work, including respect, humility, nonviolence, accountability, listening, and utilizing creative and just processes. 8. B. Hart (ed.), Peacebuilding in Traumatized Societies (Lanham, Md., University Press of America, 2008); H. Zehr, Changing Lenses: A New Focus on Crime and Justice (Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Herald Press, 2005); L. Schirch, The Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding (Intercourse, Pennsylvania, Good Books, 2004); J. Docherty, Learning Lessons from Waco: When the Parties Bring Their Gods to the Negotiation Table (Syracuse, New York, Syracuse University Press, 2001); John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (Washington, D.C., United States Institute of Peace, 1997).