Described as 'ground-breaking' in Kent McNeil's Foreword, this book develops an alternative approach to conventional Aboriginal title doctrine. It explains that aboriginal customary law can be a source of common law title to land in former British colonies, whether they were acquired by settlement or by conquest or cession from another colonising power. The doctrine of Common Law Aboriginal Customary Title provides a coherent approach to the source, content, proof and protection of Aboriginal land rights which overcomes problems arising from the law as currently understood and leads to more just results. The doctrine's applicability in Australia, Canada and South Africa is specifically demonstrated. While the jurisprudential underpinnings for the doctrine are consistent with fundamental common law principles, the author explains that the Australian High Court's decision in Mabo provides a broader basis for the doctrine: a broader basis which is consistent with a re-evaluation of case-law from former British colonies in Africa, as well as from the United States, New Zealand and Canada. In this context, the book proffers a reconceptualisation of the Crown's title to land in former colonies and a reassessment of conventional doctrines, including the doctrine of tenure and the doctrine of continuity. 'With rare exceptions ... the existing literature does not probe as deeply or question fundamental assumptions as thoroughly as Dr Secher does in her research. She goes to the root of the conceptual problems around the legal nature of Indigenous land rights and their vulnerability to extinguishment in the former colonial empire of the Crown. This book is a formidable contribution that I expect will be influential in shifting legal thinking on Indigenous land rights in progressive new directions.' From the Foreword by Professor Kent McNeil (to read the Foreword please click on the 'sample chapter' link).

The question of what rights might be afforded to Indigenous peoples has preoccupied the municipal legal systems of settler states since the earliest colonial encounters. As a result of sustained institutional initiatives, many national legal regimes and the international legal order accept that Indigenous peoples possess an extensive array of legal rights. However, despite this development, claims advanced by Indigenous peoples relating to rights to marine spaces have been largely opposed. This book offers the first sustained study of these rights and their reception within modern legal systems. Taking a three-part approach, it looks firstly at the international aspects of Indigenous entitlements in marine spaces. It then goes on to explore specific country examples, before looking at some interdisciplinary themes of crucial importance to the question of the recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples in marine settings. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars, this is a rigorous and long-overdue exploration of a significant gap in the literature.

A selection of outstanding papers from the 24th British Legal History Conference, celebrating scholarship in comparative legal history.

This book addresses the rights of indigenous peoples to marine space and associated marine resources under international law. Examining the rights of indigenous peoples relating to marine space and marine resources both in international human rights law and the law of the sea, the book provides an in-depth critical analysis of the existing legal framework, whilst identifying the gaps, and possible further mechanisms, for recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples to marine space. The book addresses three main issues: 1) the extent to which international law recognizes and protects the rights of indigenous peoples in relation to marine space and marine resources; 2) if and how the law of the sea and international human rights law pertaining to the rights of indigenous peoples to marine space and marine resources interact; 3) whether and to what extent the law of the sea regime limits the capacity of coastal States to recognize and implement the rights of indigenous peoples relating to marine space and resources. In response, and in a context where indigenous marine rights are under increasing threat, the book develops an important critical theoretical and methodological approach which moves beyond the current doctrinal focus of much existing work in this area. The book will appeal to academics, researchers, and practitioners in the areas of indigenous peoples and the law, international law, the law of the sea, and human rights.

Law's Indigenous Ethics examines the revitalization of Indigenous peoples' relationship to their own laws and, in so doing, attempts to enrich Canadian constitutional law more generally. Organized around the seven Anishinaabe grandmother and grandfather teachings of love, truth, bravery, humility, wisdom, honesty, and respect, this book explores ethics in relation to Aboriginal issues including title, treaties, legal education, and residential schools. With characteristic depth and sensitivity, John Borrows brings insights drawn from philosophy, law, and political science to bear on some of the most pressing issues that arise in contemplating the interaction between Canadian state law and Indigenous legal traditions. In the course of a wide-ranging but accessible inquiry, he discusses such topics as Indigenous agency, self-determination, legal pluralism, and power. In its use of Anishinaabe stories and methodologies drawn from the emerging field of Indigenous studies, Law's Indigenous Ethics makes a significant contribution to scholarly debate and is an essential resource for readers seeking a deeper understanding of Indigenous rights, societies, and cultures.

This highly original work demonstrates the fundamental role of customary law for the realization of Indigenous peoples’ human rights and for sound national and international legal governance. The book reviews the legal status of customary law and its relationship with positive and natural law from the time of Plato up to the present. It examines its growing recognition in constitutional and international law and its dependence on and at times strained relationship with human rights law. The author analyzes the role of customary law in tribal, national and international governance of Indigenous peoples’ lands, resources and cultural heritage. He explores the challenges and opportunities for its recognition by courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including issues of proof of law and conflicts between customary practices and human rights. He throws light on the richness inherent in legal diversity and key principles of customary law and their influence in legal practice and on emerging notions of intercultural equity and justice. He concludes that Indigenous peoples’ rights to their customary legal regimes and states’ obligations to respect and recognize customary law, in order to secure their human rights, are principles of international customary law, and as such binding on all states. At a time when the self-determination, land, resources and cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples are increasingly under threat, this accessible book presents the key issues for both legal and non-legal scholars, practitioners, students of human rights and environmental justice, and Indigenous peoples themselves.

In the last two decades there has been positive change in how the Canadian legal system defines Aboriginal and treaty rights. Yet even after the recognition of those rights in the Constitution Act of 1982, the legacy of British values and institutions as well as colonial doctrine still shape how the legal system identifies and interprets Aboriginal and treaty rights. The eight essays in Aboriginal and Treaty Rights in Canada focus on redressing this bias. All of them apply contemporary knowledge of historical events as well as current legal and cultural theory in an attempt to level the playing field. The book highlights rich historical information that previous scholars may have overlooked. Of particular note are data relevant to better understanding the political and legal relations established by treaty and the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Other essays include discussion of such legal matters as the definition of Aboriginal rights and the privileging of written over oral testimony in litigation.

Indigenous peoples in international law --Historical overview --"Indigenous peoples" : term, concepts, and definitions --Differentiation from the term "Minority" --Special indigenous rights or special circumstances? : indigenous protection standards, rights of freedom, and self-determination --Sources of law --Binding norms --ILO convention 169 --UN convention on biological diversity --"Soft law" instruments --Agenda 21, chapter 26 (1992) --UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples --Declarations and policies of various international bodies --Indigenous rights as part of customary international law --"Sources of Life" : lands and natural resources --Material standards of protection --Cause of action --The relationship between indigenous peoples and their territories --Collective land rights --Scope of indigenous territories --Restriction of alienation and disposal --Universal human rights treaties --Right of ownership --Right to culture --Right to private and family life --Jurisdiction of international monitoring bodies --Human rights committee --Committee on the elimination of racial discrimination --Sources of freedom and equality : self-determination --"Being indigenous in Africa" : legal developments of indigenous peoples law in Africa --Historical overview --Nature conservation v. human rights protection --African initiatives for the protection of indigenous rights --"Indigenous peoples in Africa" : applying the concept --Indigenous rights in the African context --Regional indigenous rights --The African charter on human and peoples' rights --The African commission on human and peoples' rights --The African court on human and peoples' rights --National indigenous rights --Selected constitutional guarantees --Jurisdiction using the example of South Africa --The case of the ... Khomani San --Richtersveld case --Excursus : "Aboriginal title" --"Aboriginal title" before the South African constitutional --Court --"Hoodia Gordonii" case --Legal perspectives of San Communities --Terminology : San, "Bushmen", Basarwa, Khoesan, N/oakwe or Kwe? --Historical overview until the end of colonial times --Regional historical differences --Botswana --Namibia --South Africa --The "Northern San" --Refiections on indigenous legal perspectives and world views --Botswana : state and society --Sociopolitical history --Pre-colonial phase --Protectorate bechuanaland --Republic of botswana --Sources of law and legal pluralism --Constitutional law --Customary law --Common and statutory law --International law --Fundamental and human rights --San in Botswana --San as citizens : Basarwa and/or Batswana? --Dominant views of the San in Botswana --Development policies --Remote area development programme --Community based natural resource management --Development : nature conservation : a contradiction? --NGO initiatives --National San NGOs --Regional San NGOs --"The lost lands" : relocation from the central Kalahari game reserve --History of the central Kalahari game reserve --The relocation of the G wi and Gana (San) --The legal dispute over the (temporarily?) "Lost lands" --Roy Sesana v. government of Botswana --Termination of basic and essential services --Restoration of basic and essential services --Lawful occupation --Deprivation of land possession --Special game licences --Access to the central Kalahari game reserve (CKGR) --Conclusions --Consequences of the high Court's decision : summary --The legal dispute over access to water --Matsipane Mosetlhanyane, Gakenyatsiwe Matsipane & further applicants v. Attorney general of Botswana --Matsipane Mosetlhanyane & Gakenyatsiwe Matsipane v. Attorney General of Botswana, court of appeal --Consequences of the courts' decisions : summary --Conclusion --The return of the outlaws : an Epilogue by Werner zips --Appendix --Examples of indigenous peoples in Africa (not exhaustive!) --Abbreviations --Bibliography --(Selected) legal texts --International instruments --National laws, regulations and policies --Court cases --Interviews --Index of figures --Index --About the authors.

Introducing the Negev–Bedouin land issue from the international indigenous land rights perspective, this comparative study suggests options for the recognition of their land. The book demonstrates that the Bedouin land dispossession, like many indigenous peoples’, progressed through several phases that included eviction and displacement, legislation, and judicial decisions that support acts of dispossession and deny the Bedouin’s traditional land rights. Examining the Mawat legal doctrine on which the State and the Court rely on to deny Bedouin land rights, this volume introduces the relevant international law protecting indigenous land rights and shows how the limitations of this law prevent any meaningful protection of Bedouin land rights. In the second part of the work, the Aborigines’ land in Australia is introduced as an example of indigenous peoples' successful struggle for their traditional land rights. The final chapter analyzes the basic elements of judicial recognition of the land and shows that the basic elements needed for Bedouin land recognition exist in the Israeli legal system. Proposing practical recommendations for the recognition of Bedouin land, this volume is a key resource to scholars and students interested in land rights, international law, comparative studies, and the Middle East.