Table of Contents
What is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law?
Indigenous customary law developed over time from accepted moral norms within Indigenous societies. They regulate human behaviour, mandate specific sanctions for non-compliance, and connect people with the land and with each other, through a system of relationships.
What are some examples of indigenous customary laws?
[109] Traditionally they might have included:
- death (either directly inflicted or by ‘sorcery’ or incantation[110])
- spearing (of greater or less severity) or other forms of corporal punishment (eg, burning the hair from the wrongdoer’s body)
- individual ‘duelling’ with spears, boomerangs or fighting sticks.
What are examples of customary laws?
Through legislation:
- Grant of land rights and native title;
- Protection of sites and sacred sites;
- Hunting and fishing rights;
- Aboriginal traditional marriages;
- Aboriginal child care practices;
- Traditional distribution on death; and.
- Aboriginal courts.
What are the aboriginal customs?
Beliefs. Aboriginal Australians’ oral tradition and spiritual values build on reverence for the land and on a belief in the Dreamtime, or Dreaming. The Dreaming is considered to be both the ancient time of creation and the present-day reality of Dreaming.
What are the main features of customary law?
SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF CUSTOMARY LAWS Customary law has several features which include inter alia: 1 It is largely unwritten 2 It is accepted as binding in the society. 3 It differs from tribe to tribe i.e. it is not uniform 4 It must be in existence at the material time.
Do Aboriginals have their own law?
Aboriginal people still follow and practice customary law, but there is no law that binds lawyers and judges to take traditional law into consideration.
Is customary law written?
Such customary law or practices may be codified or not; they may be written or oral; they may be expressly articulated or implicit in a community’s practices; they may be formally recognized by external legal systems in various ways, or currently not recognized by the community; it may be linked with other legal …
Are customary laws written?
What are characteristics of customary law?
What is the oldest culture in the world?
An unprecedented DNA study has found evidence of a single human migration out of Africa and confirmed that Aboriginal Australians are the world’s oldest civilization.
How is customary law relevant to Torres Strait Islanders?
How pleasing it is to see so many Indigenous faces among you: students of law, para-professionals, lawyers and barristers, as well as so many non-Indigenous supporters here today. Throughout this presentation I will refer to Aboriginal customary law, though the points that I will make are equally relevant to Torres Strait Islanders.
When was Aboriginal customary law recognised in Australia?
At the Australian Reconciliation Convention in May 1997 there was strong support among participants for the recognition and application of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law and traditions within Australia’s written statutes and common law, and in court procedures.
How is lore passed on to indigenous people?
Aboriginal lore was passed on through the generations through songs, stories and dance and it governed all aspects of traditional life. It is common to see the terms ‘law’ and ‘lore’ being used interchangeably.
Why are indigenous communities not supported to self regulate?
If Indigenous communities are not supported to self regulate and if governments seek to reduce the standing of internal governance systems, then this has the potential to diminish that system of law within those communities.