SOSC 1375 Chapter 4: Customray Law, Sentencing, and Limits of the State

• School: York University
• Department: Social Science
• Course: SOSC 1375
• Professor: Olena Kobzar

Document Summary

Customary law, sentencing, and the limits of the state: (cid:862)more recently many judges have accepted that, partly as result of alcohol abuse, aboriginal communities have become devastated places(cid:863) E(cid:454)ual offe(cid:374)(cid:272)es, (cid:449)ife a(cid:271)use, (cid:862)(cid:449)ro(cid:374)g-ski(cid:374)(cid:863) (cid:271)a(cid:271)ies: (cid:862)in the case of juli,7 an aboriginal defendant was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. There was evidence that the defendant abused alcohol, and that on previous occasions he had drunk alcohol to excess and then committed violent offences. 8 the court accepted that when he carried out the offences he was intoxicated(cid:863) (cid:894)(cid:1005)4(cid:1006)(cid:895) I(cid:374) (cid:373)ost (cid:272)ases, the judges fo(cid:272)us their dis(cid:272)ussio(cid:374) o(cid:374) al(cid:272)ohol su(cid:272)h as the(cid:455) go (cid:862)ha(cid:374)d-in-ha(cid:374)d(cid:863) Judges are not required to use customary laws, but are allowed to do so. Such as in one case, there was evidence heard about aboriginal cultural beliefs: the customary laws play an important part in sentencing as their community. In this case, the court need representative bodies to obtain cultural information.