Research Essay
Answer one of the following essay questions:
What is therapeutic jurisprudence? What value does this approach have for the administration of justice within settler-colonies? Do you think the Koori Court might be considered a practising example of therapeutic jurisprudence?
How do discourses of race and racism influence the quality and access to justice for Indigenous Australians?
Discuss the role Indigenous interpreters in the administration of justice. Why are interpreters necessary functionaries in the administration of justice for many Indigenous Australians? Why do you think access to interpreters has historically been restricted in many settings in Australia, and to what effect?
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody emphasised the social, cultural and legal issues underlying the incarceration rates and deaths of Aboriginal people in custody. Why was a Commissioner specifically appointed to oversee social issues (Commissioner Dodson, Western Australia)?
The imprisonment rates of Aboriginal people have continued to rise, despite the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody’s final recommendation of “imprisonment as a last resort”. Discuss the impact of policing on Aboriginal people. For this question students will need to examine how over-policing and under-policing impact on these rates, the significance of policing culture and so on.