Source: (2006) International Criminal Justice Review. 16(3): 157-178.
Indigenous peoples are overrepresented in the courts of both Australia and Canada. They face a
number of special disadvantages in dealing with the courts that historically have led to the development
of special legal services operated by Indigenous people. The kind of legal organization
is not the same in these two countries because of differences in their organizational environments.
These include demographics, economics, culture, law, politics, ecology, and technology.
These factors provided both constraints and opportunities for the new organizations. Examples
from two case studies are used: Native Counselling Services of Alberta, Canada, which provides
Native Courtworkers and legal information services, and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement,
Inc. of South Australia, which provides legal representation and legal information. The case
studies indicate that Indigenous legal services organizations must still adapt and innovate by
constructing new realities if they are to continue to provide desperately needed services for
Indigenous peoples.
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