Critically discuss by reference to the administration of the criminal law in respect of Australian Aboriginal Peoples.

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Question: Critically discuss by reference to the administration of the

criminal law in respect of Australian Aboriginal Peoples.

The administration of the criminal law in respect of Australian Aboriginal peoples can be explored through two aspects, the judicial recognition of Aboriginal customary law as well as the mandatory sentencing policy. In this essay, these two distinct areas will be examined respectively. Discussions on these two topics will include both the its beneficiaries and criticisms. Cases and judgments as well as statistics will be provided and used to enrich discussion and illustration.

First of all, should Australian legal system hold judicial recognition for Aboriginal customary law? Mason CJ holds strong rejection to this question. He clearly pointed out in Mabo (No2)1, although there was not inconsistency between native title being held by people of Aboriginal descent and the underlying radical title being vested in the Crown. There is no analogy with the criminal law. English criminal law did not, and Australian criminal law does not, accommodate an alternative body of law operating outside it. In Walker v New South Wales 2 he again denied the possibility of judicial recognition of Aboriginal customary law in