Source: (1999) Paper presented at Bolton Day 1999, The Spirit Within: Restorative Justice – Challenges for the New Millenium, North Vancouver, Canada, May 27-28. St. Leonard’s Society of Canada. Downloaded 14 January 2005.
A lawyer since the mid 1990s, Darwin Hannah has considerable experience with legal matters in relation to aboriginal communities in Canada. Hanna’s conclusion – supported by the experiences of colleagues and a review of relevant literature – is that aboriginal justice principles are not significantly used within the Canadian justice system to address criminal justice issues relating to aboriginal people and communities. Many studies, reports, commissions, and inquiries have recommended that such principles be used to resolve conflict in aboriginal communities. Yet this has not occurred to any significant degree. In this context, Hanna explores both the use of aboriginal justice beliefs to restore balance in aboriginal communities and the issues and challenges of applying aboriginal justice principles within the current system.
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