Aboriginal Australians and the Criminal Law : History, Policy, Culture.

ISBN-13: 9783639126204 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 288 str.

Heather Douglas

Opis

This book explores the relationship between the 1950spolicy of assimilation and the development of criminal justiceapproaches to Australian Aboriginal people. Several areas ofcriminal justice are examined: the provocation defence, the recognition ofcustomary law, sentencing and alcohol regulation. These areashave been particularly relevant to confrontations betweenAboriginal people and the criminal justice system. This book arguesthat, in some areas, criminal justice principles developed in the1950s in response to the policy of assimilation continue to influencethe interaction between Aboriginal people and the criminal law.However, it also contends that more recently criminal law hassometimes aimed to restore and repair Aboriginal people to their owncommunities. This later approach may open up a space forAboriginal people to become more involved in the criminal justice processand, from this involvement, a form of weak legal pluralism may beemerging. The analysis provides new insights about approaches tocriminal justice that may be helpful to lawyers, policy makers andhistorians working in Aboriginal criminal justice.

O autorze

Associate Professor at the T. C. Beirne School of Law,
University of Queensland,
Australia. The author teaches and researches in the area of
criminal justice.