Indigenous Crime and Settler Law

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

   PDF

2. Introduction: Histories

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 1-12

3. ‘Troublesome Friends and Dangerous Enemies’

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 13-34

4. Amenable to the Law

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 35-64

5. The Exercise of Jurisdiction

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 65-88

6. A Question of Custom

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 89-120

7. Equality before the Law

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 121-147

8. Towards Formal Recognition

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 148-182

9. ‘Benign Pessimism’: A National Emergency

   • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

   Pages 183-213

10. Conclusion: Sovereignties

    • Heather Douglas, Mark Finnane

    Pages 214-221

11. Back Matter

    Pages 222-260

    PDF

In a break from the contemporary focus on the law's response to inter-racial crime, the authors examine the law's approach to the victimization of one Indigenous person by another. Drawing on a wealth of archival material relating to homicides in Australia, they conclude that settlers and Indigenous peoples still live in the shadow of empire.

• aboriginal rights
• Australia
• cognition
• crime
• law
• quality

"Heather Douglas and Mark Finnane expose the myth of 'perfect sovereignty' in Australia in this important book. Their meticulous historical study demonstrates that although, according to international law, the English acquired sovereignty over the entire continent upon settlement...the exertion of sovereignty and the exercise of criminal jurisdiction over Indigenous people has been, in practice, uneven, piecemeal and imperfect." - Tanya Mitchell, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, Volume 25 Number 2

HEATHER DOUGLAS is a professor at the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
 
MARK FINNANE is ARC Australian Professorial Fellow and Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security, Griffith University, Australia.

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