NCJ Number
100652
Editor(s)
K M Hazlehurst
Date Published
1985
Length
320 pages
Annotation
Papers from the 1985 Australian Aboriginal Criminal Justice Workshop address legal problems in Australian Aboriginal communities; police-aboriginal relations; community regulation in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia; and future directions for Aboriginal justice programs.
Abstract
Papers pertaining to legal problems in Australian Aboriginal communities discuss the impact of colonialization on the physical and mental health of Aborigines and the relation of the latter to Aboriginal crime, Aboriginal self-determination in justice matters, Aboriginal legal services, and the impact of incarceration on Aboriginals. Three papers discuss programs to improve police-Aboriginal relationships in various Australian regions. Five papers consider the involvement of indigenous populations in local social control through such entities as village courts and native tribunals, which resolve some disputes through native representatives who reflect local customs in their decisionmaking. The programs described are in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand. A Canadian study critiques a national study of the disproportionate involvement of native people in the criminal justice system. Papers describing community regulation programs in Australia pertain to projects that increase the involvement of Aboriginals in the local administration of criminal justice. Future planning needs and research issues are reviewed. Appendixes contain the enabling legislation for some of the programs described. For individual papers, see NCJ 100653-62.