This thesis examines criminal law in the context of Australian indigenous–settler relations. Through the jurisprudence of Justice Kriewaldt in the Northern Territory, it explores the relationship between the policy of assimilation and the application of the criminal law to Aboriginal people. Justice Kriewaldt was the sole judge of the Northern Territory Supreme Court during the 1950s. This was an important period in Australian history when the assimilation policy was at its highpoint. The thesis focuses on three areas of criminal justice—provocation, sentencing and alcohol consumption regulation. Both for Justice Kriewaldt and, in contemporary times, these areas were and continue to be of particular relevance to Aboriginal people confronting the criminal justice system. The thesis demonstrates that Justice Kriewaldt’s approach in these areas was informed by his support for the assimilation policy. It is argued that Justice Kriewaldt generally understood Aboriginal people to be uncivilised and that he applied the criminal law to assist in civilising Aboriginal people so that they could become assimilated. / This thesis also explores how Justice Kriewaldt’s jurisprudence has pervaded current approaches to dealing with the interaction between Aboriginal people and the criminal law. The thesis argues that although echoes of Kriewaldt’s 1950s approach are persistent within contemporary applications of the criminal law to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, there have also been shifts in approach. It is contended that Aboriginal people are increasingly understood to be culturally devastated and sick, and that contemporary criminal law frequently aims to restore and repair Aboriginal people to their communities, rather than to assimilate Aboriginal people. It is argued that this approach has opened up a space for Aboriginal people to become more involved in the application of criminal justice and, from this involvement, a form of weak legal pluralism has emerged.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/245041 |
| Creators | Douglas, Heather |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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