Sophie Andreetta. “A Broken Trust: Defence Lawyers and the Beninese State.” Journal of Legal Anthropology, vol. 8, no. 2 (2024): 118-137.
This article investigates how defense lawyers in Benin navigate a shifting political landscape marked by democratic backsliding and increasing judicial bias. Drawing on ethnographic research within law firms, it analyzes the erosion of trust between legal professionals and the state—both as an institution and as a source of legal authority. As lawyers confront a system where the state routinely fails to follow its own rules, they develop new discourses and adaptation strategies to continue practicing within a politicized and unpredictable legal environment.
By focusing on the everyday work and perceptions of Beninese defense attorneys, the article contributes to broader debates on authoritarian legality, highlighting how legal professionals adjust their expectations, redefine their roles, and attempt to maintain professional integrity under authoritarian pressure. It provides critical insight into the resilience and recalibration of legal practice in African contexts of institutional decline, showing how attorneys operate both within and against systems that no longer guarantee fairness or legal consistency.