Aboriginals and the Courts I and II (From Justice Programs for Aboriginal and Other Indigenous Communities, P 157-186, 1985, Kathleen M Hazelhurst, ed. - See NCJ-100652)

• NCJ Number: 100661
• Author(s): T Syddall
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 31 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: An abridged reprint of two papers from B Swanton (ed.), Aborigines and Criminal Justice, 1984)

Annotation

This paper describes (1) conflicts between dominant European law and Aboriginal traditions in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and (2) the nature and effectiveness of an experimental effort to give Aboriginal communities greater control over lawmaking and adjudication.

Abstract

Aborigines in Western Australia, whose representation in prison far outnumbers their representation in the general population, are generally imprisoned for alcohol-related and public order offenses. Many arrests and subsequent incarcerations stem from a failure of European laws and courts to appreciate Aboriginal customs, such as public harangues (usually in pubs) for perceived injustice at the hands of fellow Aborigines. Improvement in the criminal justice system's handling of Aborigines not only requires the cross-cultural training of European magistrates to produce more insightful adjudications of Aborigines, but also more autonomous lawmaking and adjudication in Aboriginal communities. In 1979, the Aboriginal Communities Act was passed to increase legislative and judicial autonony in two communities. A monitoring of this effort in these experimental communities shows a marked reduction in antisocial behavior and an improvement in Aboriginal-police relations.