NCJ Number
194142
Date Published
2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper proposes the establishment of Aboriginal Community Sentencing Tribunals to deal with Aborigines convicted of an offense by a court, but not yet sentenced; this proposal is viewed as one step toward the practical application of the principle of self-determination for Aboriginal communities.
Abstract
Every Aboriginal community should have the opportunity to establish its own Aboriginal community tribunal to deal with legal matters that affect its residents; however, these tribunals should have limited jurisdiction. They would be limited to sentencing in criminal matters where a conviction has already been determined by a court; bail application by way of appeal when a court has refused bail to an Aboriginal; and domestic anti-violence and limited family matters. Any Aboriginal community that wishes to establish such a community tribunal should have the legal right to do so. For Aboriginal persons with the option to appear before a community tribunal, the choice must be voluntary. Aboriginal community tribunals could act as a buffer to reduce the disproportionate imprisonment of Aboriginal people. This is not to say that a community tribunal would necessarily be less harsh than a traditional court, but it may have a better understanding of community-based correctional resources that would have a more positive impact on the Aboriginal offender than imprisonment. Decisions by the Aboriginal community tribunals should be binding to the extent this is legally possible. Interference by the courts should by limited. The Aboriginal community's ability to deal with legal matters that affect its residents should be linked to a greater community authority. That community authority should have the power to make laws and bylaws exclusively in appropriate community areas. In others, these powers could be exercised in substitution of, or alongside of existing general laws that operate in that area.