Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Day 4 |
Day 5
Conference Statement
Participants at the Ngaarra Legal Forum thank the Yothu Yindi Foundation,
the traditional owners of Gulkula and the clan leaders and members,
who shared their law and culture with us, for enriching our understanding
of the notion of law itself, the responsibility of the Australian
legal system to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, particularly
by reducing police apprehension and detention, and custodial sentences,
and the advantage for all Australians in the following proposals
for reforming the criminal justice system and for the recognition
of Aboriginal Law.
The Forum noted that four key guiding principles were necessary
to achieve justice and fairness for all, and an end to the dominance
and repression of Aboriginal Law by the Australian Legal System.
The Forum welcomed the announcement by the Chief Minister elect
of the NT that the NT Government would repeal mandatory sentencing
laws. However, the Forum calls on the NT Government to also repeal
the Public Order and Anti-Social Conduct Act, and calls on the WA
Government to repeal its mandatory sentencing laws. The Forum resolved
that, in the interests of observing the highest standards of justice
and human rights expected by the community, full judicial discretion
should be restored in both the Northern Territory and Western Australian
jurisdictions, and should be the fundamental principle in all other
Australian jurisdictions.
Principle 1
Justice and fairness in the Australian legal system depends on the
protection of full judicial discretion, the separation of powers,
and other long valued mechanisms of ensuring justice, from the vagaries
of the political system. Resort to mandatory sentencing and zero
tolerance policing are political policies of the day that undermine
the principles of law and should be resisted by legislatures in
the interests of principles of justice and compliance with human
rights standards.
The Forum acknowledged that the Indigenous and Australian systems
of law have been parallel and co-existing since white settlement.
The Forum calls on all Australian Governments to participate in
the establishment of a national framework leading to community consultation
on the range of developments since the Australian Law Reform Commission
1986 Report on the Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Law, and
legislation and judicial decisions recognising Aboriginal Law.
Principle 2
Where legal pluralism enables justice and fairness then the recognition
of customary law should be legislated to ensure that all Australians
obtain the benefit of a combined system of laws that works to the
benefit of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians alike.
The Forum established a Committee to work with Bob McMullan to look
at ways in which Australian and Indigenous law can work together
responding in different circumstances in different parts of the
country.
The Forum discussed the wide range of Indigenous community initiatives
expressing the principle of self-determination and noted their success
in diverting Indigenous people away from the criminal justice system
and into community-based justice programs. The Forum resolved that
all participants in the Australian system of law and the community
should be educated as to the potential for community justice programs
working in collaboration with the judiciary, the police and the
correctional systems, to provide better outcomes for both offenders,
victims and the community.
Principle 3
A fundamental standard in International law is the right of all
peoples to self-determination whereby they make their own decisions
as to political, cultural, economic, social and other matters. Aboriginal
communities should be empowered to apply the principle of self-determination
at all stages of the criminal justice system and juvenile justice
system, and in all other matters of law so that peace, order and
good government can operate in all communities.
The Forum calls on those who work in the Australian legal system
to provide greater flexibility in the administration of law to ensure
that Aboriginal people are treated justly and fairly, and to reduce
arrest and imprisonment rates.
Principle 4
Flexibility and imaginative responses in the administration of law
would better serve the community than adherence to traditional methods
applied by the judiciary, the police and the correctional system.
Reform and development of our system of law should aim to reduce
contact of offenders with the criminal justice system and to reduce
recidivism among offenders. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal
Deaths in Custody recommended imprisonment as a last resort. Initiatives
in the legal system that aim to divert offenders from custody must
be encouraged and established widely.
More detailed recommendations emerged from the workshops held at
the Forum to enable the widest possible discussion and imput of
the participants and we draw the attention of Australian governments
to these recommendations and urge their implementation.
HOME