Aboriginal Legal System

This essay will utilize the indigenous children related policy to analyze how the removal of children is still impacting them today. A brief legislative development history will be provided. After that, this essay will examine various negative impacts that caused from the policy, such as the continuous removal of children, mental health problem and youth criminal problem.

This essay looks at Indigenous Australians in relation to the institution of ‘Criminal Law’. In this context, criminal law refers to legal processes such as police questioning, investigation and detainment as well as arrest, custody and bail. It also encompasses associated court procedures up to the point of sentencing. The focus will be to first outline the importance of criminal law to Indigenous Australians and then provide a critical analysis of the unique experiences and barriers that this group encounter in accessing criminal law in a positive way. Following this analysis, the development of possible ways to improve Indigenous access to criminal law will be discussed. Particular attention will be given to the way in which Indigenous Australians are affected by the transition of our modern justice system toward broader social justice concepts that incorporate risk management of potential criminal behaviour. From this discussion a conclusion will be drawn as to whether or not Indigenous Australians enjoy equality of criminal law and whether the structural elements of the law itself perpetuate Indigenous injustice and disadvantage.

Indigenous nations have always had their own ways governing their society. These ancient traditions were passed down to the future generations, even making it through the forces of colonialism. By saying that, it can be understood of the importance and significance it had and has to

In this article, Heuser discusses one of the main issues with Aboriginal Land Claims today, and how the government handles them. One of the main issues mentioned was the time it takes to fulfill Aboriginal Land Claims. For example, the Algonquins of Ontario launched a land claim against the provincial and federal government in the 1980s, and it is still being discussed today. Heuser is a journalist for several newspapers including the National Post. Heuser has graduated from the University of Toronto with a J.D. in the faculty of law, as well as receiving her B.A., making her qualified to form valid opinions on government issues. The arguments presented in this article are well stated, and proved with recent government land-claims to back them

In establishing an act, the stakeholder’s positions would need to be considered in order to ensure an equitable legislation for the majority of society. Stakeholders recognised by the law include: All registered native title bodies corporate in relation to land or waters in the area (Austlii: 1993). Pastoralists involved in relation to current land owners. Government bodies; influence the execution of laws and policies on members of society. Once a decision is passed, it can be used as precedent in future cases and therefore the decisions passed must have due consideration. An organisation that educates society on the issues of Indigenous

Aboriginal Self Determinaton is a valueable topic as It allows a visible minority group to freely determine there status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” (UNDRIP Article 3). This allows them to engage in self governance but under certan condtions as defined in this quote “Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to self-determination, have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for financing their autonomous functions” (UNDRIP Article 4). This is very helpful as it allows them to deal with the matters that are affecting and important to them. Self goverence is a inheranted right that has exsisted for a long time due to

There are many groups of people throughout the world, who have either managed to keep their system of values and traditions relevant or have been forced to conform to the modern ways of the region they inhabit. The Basque people are a group of indigenous that claim the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains around the Bay of Biscay in northern Spain and southern France for thousands of years. Indigenous people are originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native. By analyzing and interpreting their language, communication, religion, transition to modernity, differences between french and spanish borders, and their history we will be able to better understand them. Throughout the years, advances in international thinking and action has been significant on indigenous rights and issues including the adoption to the UN declaration on rights of indigenous people in 2007.

The challenges faced By Indigenous Peoples in achieving justice, are both complex and extensive. These issues stem from successive centuries of asserted colonial power, which consequently has resulted in the undermining of rights for many Indigenous communities, including the Australian Aboriginal Peoples and Maori Peoples of New Zealand. Systemic abuse of power has resulted in the gradual erosion of Indigenous culture, and as thus, rights of Indigenous communities, including Intellectual Property and Cultural Rights, have been neglected. As a result, a growing body of declarations, statements, and other developments both within governmental systems, as well as in the wider international justice arena have been received. However, many

In fact, since the late 1990s, we have seen an increasing number of voices come forward and begin the debate on what mechanisms are needed to reverse cultural appropriation of indigenous intellectual property such as with Curare. Among the topics at hand, there is one major debate that has taken precedence over the others: should the right to resources and knowledge be vested in individual, communities, or the state? By vesting rights to intellectual property in the individual, i.e. companies, we reach a state where the interest of the stakeholder overshadows the indigenous people occurs, and the indigenous people become marginalized as we see currently. Vesting rights in the community are a step forward, yet local communities do not always put the native population’s best interests first and are usually the facilitating forces in cultural appropriation as they allow explicit access to resources in exchange for short term monetary gain. Finally, state or government vesting of intellectual property rights provides the most stable, safest form of protection against the appropriation. State control ensures that intellectual property, as long as the state is not overtly corrupt, will be appropriated to the right groups of people such as the indigenous South Americans. Secondly, state ownership of intellectual property provides a stable basis for defense against other nations attempting to steal ideas, such is the case with Curare. On the other hand, state control of intellectual property is often bureaucratic which can be obstructing to resource conservation due to its slow reaction to create regulation (Ziff 1997). Regardless of what happens at a national level and below, the creation of international groups to unite

The Declaration that many years ago, civil society members and indigenous communities could only dream of being recognized, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, is a hallmark of the evolving world order towards human rights recognition. One metric in which one can measure the progress and effectiveness of the United Nations, is in its capacity to

In the peer-reviewed journal, “Indigenous Peoples and Multicultural Citizenship: Bridging Collective and Individual Rights,” Cindy L. Holder and Jeff J. Corntassel discuss the revaluation, problems, and restrictions of existing human rights instruments while examining the liberal-individualist and corporatist perspectives. This journal was written in response to the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was “ …. a milestone for universal legal protection of individuals” (Holder and Corntassel 126). When the existing human right means were reexamined due to the anniversary, there were several problems that arose. First, there is the absence of promoting universal acceptance of group rights when compared to

Through historical injustices that have resulted in the (almost) universal paradigm of eurocentrist and superimposed values by western and/or developed states on indigenous communities, indigenous peoples’ needs for socioeconomic advancement and preservation of culture, more often than not, get disregarded in global governance and deliberation. Indigenous populations around the world fall victim to underrepresentation and second class citizenship in their respective state due to their lack of legitimacy in the world stage. In the context of the contemporary world order, this research paper analyzes the United Nations’ role through select conventions, declarations, programs, resolutions, and specialized agencies in the preservation of Maya culture and community development. Given the importance and legitimacy the United Nations embodies, it is imperative that in the discourse of the advancement of Maya/indigenous rights, that the assessment of the world’s one (de facto) universal organization, be given priority analysis. By focusing on Maya community needs, the research paper will provide a window into an often forgotten people who still yearn the same core values as any human.

What does the future hold for the indigenous peoples around the world? There is no clear answer, to this question. Each and every government must review the past treatment and the current conditions to determine what should [could] be done, to improve the lives of their indigenous peoples. The issues of the past are vast in number and unique to each government. The issues include: political power, education, environment, land [territory], intellectual property, poverty and the list goes on. According to, Gillette Hall and Harry Anthony Patrinos “the United Nations proclaimed 1995-2004 the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples” (76). Today, there are still unresolved issues that confront the very existence of the future of indigenous peoples around the world. In order, to move forward it is still necessary to look back and review the processes that have improved the livelihood of the indigenous and what have been the setbacks. If there is to be a change for the improvement of all indigenous peoples; the entire international society around the world should make an agenda to commit to enforcing the rights of indigenous peoples.

This webpage outlines the discussion of the 2014 United Nations (UN) world conference on indigenous peoples. It brings together in succinct detail the outcomes and objectives, promoting the implementation and advancement of Indigenous peoples rights. The Human Rights Commission mentions only the UN which could suggest bias. However, the UN is made up of a multitude of organisations and governing bodies that give the source authority.

A barrier that indigenous people must overcome in their journey to achieving complete equality and their basic human rights is social acceptance and their rights to culture (Donnelly 1989: 215). Indigenous peoples, regardless of origin, have differences in their beliefs and practices that might conflict