Comparing a Aboriginal and Australian Justice Systems

1288 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The respective paradigm shifts between the aboriginal justice system and restorative system

Interrelationship : Aboriginal & Australian justice system :
The recognition of aboriginal customary laws under the Australian Criminal justice system is just confined to acknowledgement of just the traditional physical punishments at the stage of sentencing. It all depends upon the interpretation and readings of individuals who play a role in the Criminal justice system in the capacity of judicial officers, officers of the court, lawyers and police officers etc. (Aboriginal Law& criminal justice,Law Reform Commission,W.Australia)
Comparison between Aboriginal & Australian justice system :
There are certain areas of conflict between the Aboriginal Justice system and the Australian Law. Persons following the aboriginal customary laws if give out traditional bodily punishments prevalent under the customary law may be regarded as an offender under the australian law. Similarly there are several initiation practices under the the customary law that constitute criminal offence. Some scholars have proposed to make the traditional punishments of the aboriginal people as lawful under the Australian legal system but there are an equal number of critics for the proposal as well. They say that it should be on case to case basis rather making every provision of customary law legal. (Aboriginal Law& criminal justice,Law Reform Commission,W.Australia)
There are several inconsistencies between the aboriginal law and the australian law, for e.g. if a person commits a crime governed under the australian law then in that case he will be liable to punishment but if an aboriginal person violates both the customary law and australian law then in that case he will be liable to be punished under both laws or in effect getting double punishment for a sin...

... middle of paper ...

...ed through the decisions of the Court whereas, the statutory law is made by the commonwealth parliament and various state parliaments. (Australasian Legal Information Institute)
In United Kingdom a Bill can be introduced in any house of the parliament, it is discussed before passage in both houses. After both houses have passed the Bill, it is sent for getting the Queens assent and after that it becomes a Law. (Reynolds)

Works Cited

Commonwealth Consilidated Acts http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/coaca430/s72.html> retrieved on 18th Oct 2009

Aboriginal Justice Report retrieved on 18th Oct 2009

Shukla SK, Indian Constitutional Law, Universal Publications 2008
Reynolds Jane, Constitutional Law, Hodder Education Series
Peterson.L, Global Laws:A Review, ETM Publications

Show More
Related

  • Aboriginal Customary Laws and Australian Contemporary Laws

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    The roots of Australian laws are similar to traditional Aboriginal laws, dating back to before the Norman Conquest in 1066, where each separate village had their own laws developed to their own customs. This changed however, after a centralized legal system was established after 1066. A common law was formed, that applied to all of England. This was later combined with equity law and mercantile law, which is the basis of Australian law today, known as ‘statute law’.

    Read More

  • Aboriginal Customary Law VS European Law

    2499 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lowitja O'Donoghue, who formerly chaired the government's Aboriginal affairs body ATSIC, believes that Australian law should be more aggressive in such cases. Some aspects of Aboriginal law are falling out of practice. Chris Sidoti believes that whatever balance is struck will be as distinct from traditional European law as it is from traditional Aboriginal law. "For traditional people, being put in jail is more inhuman than spearing, and any unified law would have to recognise that.

    Read More

  • Fairness in the Australian Legal System

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Legal system is a comprehensive term that is used to confirm the existence of the law; it also explains the law-making process and how this is enforced on everyone. The Australian legal system regulates all level of governments, organisations, and all people whether they are Australian born or have migrated here, and they must obey Australia’s regulations. The legal system here was developed from the United Kingdom’s legal system, as Australia was a colony of the British. At a glance, the British government granted restricted rights to their colonies, including Australia to set local government system. This was intended to developed laws in local area, also to deal with specific situation at that time. As a result, the legal system in each of the colonies started to develop separately. According to Carvan J (2010) the Australian law is adopted from several sources, including the rules of equity, parliamentary laws, delegated legislations, judge-made laws, and international laws. (Austrlian Legal System, 2007)

    Read More

  • Australia's Unfair Legal System

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    In theory all jury systems (which have existed for almost 800 years) are fair and just.

    Read More

  • Criminal Law: The Daniel Morcombe Case

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    Just and equitable legal outcomes to evaluate the case include of many expectations that may be met, the outcome of the case was discovered by fair trial which includes correct punishment theories and procedures, Justice Roslyn Atkinson met these through the trial also making it equitable because the punishment theories were applied to the offender Brett Peter Cowan. Punishment options and procedures in Queensland met the current needs of the society throughout this

    Read More

  • Aboriginal Self Government and the Canadian Justice System

    2238 Words  | 5 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to examine why the justice system fails for First Nations persons and alternative rehabilitation methods used by Aboriginal people, comprised of Aboriginal people, for Aboriginal people, in hopes to rehabilitate offenders and prevent criminal behavior in the Aboriginal community from precontact to today. Through the attempts of Aboriginal people to take control of their own destiny’s in the ever going struggle to attain self-government I will examine the aims and structure of one of these alternative rehabilitation methods, the Sentencing Circle used today to address the need to return to community based “Restorative Justice Programs” in the Aboriginal community

    Read More

  • Argument Against Capital Punishment in Australia

    2208 Words  | 5 Pages

    Argumentative Essay on Capital Punishment in Australia Capital punishment is barbaric and inhumane and should not be re-introduced into Australia. Although capital punishment has been abolished, the debate on this topic has never abated. When a particularly heinous crime is committed, this debate arouses strong passions on both sides. Many who advocate the abolition of capital punishment consider the death penalty to be cruel and inhuman, while those who favor of punishment by death see it as a form of just retribution for the gravest of crimes. Determining whether Queensland should re-introduce capital punishment as a sentence will be the focus of this assignment.

    Read More

  • Australian Rule Of Law Essay

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    The merits of both the adversarial and inquisitorial system will be explored throughout this paper. The Australian rule of law best describes as all law should be applied equally and fairly. The five vital operations of the rule of law includes fairness, rationality, predictability, consistency, and impartially. The adversarial system adopts these operations by having a jury decide on the verdict and the judge being an impartial decision maker. In contrast, the inquisitorial system relies heavily on the judge. This can result in abusive power and bias of the judge when hearing evidence and delivering verdicts. The operations of the rule of law determine why the rule of law is best served by the adversarial system in Australia.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Pressure On The Government

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    The parliament is where laws are made in the UK. The laws often made apply to England and at times areas in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their decisions come from different sources and pressure on the parliament can often change their ideas on policies. The government is who normally puts laws forward and introduces them. If the laws do not derive from them, they are from pressure groups, the media or law commission. Other pressures are present inside as well as outside the parliament, such as, the Royal Commission and the European Union.

    Read More

  • Restorative Justice: Aboriginal Peoples and the Justice System

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    Restorative justice can be defined as a theory related to justice that is concerned on repairing the harm that is caused or revealed by a criminal behavior (Barsh 2005: 359). Over the years, restorative justice has been seen as an effective way of dealing with both social as well as cultural issues of the aboriginal people. Because of these, restorative justice is used in many of the local communities in an effort to correct criminal behavior. This concept is seen as a conceptualization of justice which is in most cases congruent with the cultural and the community values of the aboriginal people. There is growing body of evidence which suggests that there are a number of challenges which accrue the effective implementation of restorative justice amongst the aboriginal people.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Law

    2337 Words  | 5 Pages

    The gross over representation of indigenous people in the Australian criminal justice system (CJS) is so disturbingly evident that it is never the source of debate. Rather it is the starting point of discussions centring on the source and solutions to this prominent social, cultural and political issue. Discourse surrounds not only the economic and social disadvantage of indigenous communities, but also the systemic racism and continuing intergenerational trauma resulting for the unjust colonisation of a nation which has profited whites at the detriment to indigenous people throughout history. In respect to the currently CJS, trepidations are raised by indigenous communities around the lack of culturally diverse laws and punishments within the system. The overtly western system does not provide a viable space for indigenous

    Read More

  • Aboriginal Rights And Freedoms

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    Assess the extent to which Indigenous Australians have achieved rights and freedoms in the period from 1945-present.

    Read More

  • The Assimilation Policy and Its Impact on the Indigenous Australian Society

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

    Read More

  • Essay On Indigenous Land

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    Australia’s Indigenous people are thought to have reached the continent between 60 000 and 80 000 years ago. Over the thousands of years since then, a complex customary legal system have developed, strongly linked to the notion of kinship and based on oral tradition. The indigenous people were not seen as have a political culture or system for law. They were denied the access to basic human right e.g., the right to land ownership. Their cultural values of indigenous people became lost. They lost their traditional lifestyle and became disconnected socially. This means that they were unable to pass down their heritage and also were disconnected from the new occupants of the land.

    Read More

  • Essay On Aboriginal Rights In Australia

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    Indigenous Australians have had a controversial place throughout Australian history, with World War 1 being one of the main events in this topic. Although there were no aboriginals that went to fight in World War I, it was not that they didn't want to because of their violent history with the British, it was because the British didn't allow them to enlist for World War 1.

    Read More

More about Comparing a Aboriginal and Australian Justice Systems

Open Document