Course

Indigenous People and the Law - LAWS3211

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: Crime & Criminal Process (LAWS1021/JURD7121) & Criminal Laws (LAWS1022/JURD7122) OR Crim. Law 1 (LAWS1001/JURD7101) & Crim. Law 2 (LAWS1011/JURD7111). Co-requisite: Litigation 1 [LAWS2311/ JURD7211] OR Res. Civil Disp. (LAWS2371/JURD7271)

Excluded: JURD7411

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

The aim of the course is to equip students with an understanding of technical legal matters and broader issues that arise in the relationship between Indigenous peoples, their own legal systems and non-Indigenous law. This is a survey course, an opportunity to develop students' knowledge and understanding of a range of Indigenous legal issues, and it addresses both international and domestic law. The course looks at property rights, constitutional arrangements, criminal justice, the position of children and families, intellectual property and human rights, amongst other issues. In other words, it builds on students' general knowledge from a number of compulsory courses and may also complement other electives in a student's program.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are to:
  • develop a general familiarity with a range of domestic and international legal issues relevant to Indigenous peoples, from an Australian perspective
  • build an awareness of the historical interaction of Indigenous and Western legal systems in Australia
  • gain a greater appreciation of the major currents in international law of relevance to Indigenous peoples in Australia
  • obtain more detailed knowledge of particular aspects of Australian law and society where Indigenous legal issues arise
  • better perceive the wider political and economic culture of law-making
  • improve oral and written skills through contribution to class discussion and the production of high quality written work in a research paper.

Main Topics

  • History, Law and Government Policies
  • Customary Law
  • International Law and Human Rights
  • Indigenous Governance
  • Territorial Issues, particularly Land Rights and Native Title
  • Criminal Justice
  • Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property
  • Child Welfare and Family Violence
  • Unfinished Business and Constitutional Change

Assessment

75% research essay
25% class participation

Course Texts

Prescribed
The prescribed text is Heather McRae et al, Indigenous Legal Issues: Commentary and Materials, (4th ed, 2009, Thomson Reuters).

Law Books

Study Levels

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