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Inuit Law
 The laws which governed the Inuit were simple. The most basic law of every settlement was that"no one may without reason avoid the struggle for food and clothing. He who does so is not allowedto starve; but he is despised and looked down on by everybody." (2, 162). Land was seen as acommunal property to be used for hunting by all. Similarly, game caught was divided among thecommunity according to its size; the largest catches being split equally for all. Personal propertywas closely observed, following the guideline that "possession is conditioned by actual use of theproperty" (2, 162). That is to say, as long as an item is being utilized then it shall remain personalproperty, but if one possesses an item and does not use it, then by right it should be given tosomeone who will be able to use it. However, laws did not exist as we in today's Western cultureknow it. They were not written, taught and enforced laws, but rather communal understandings.Punishment for breaching these laws were quite mild, usually aimed at injuring a man's position insociety (through gossip, ridicule or ostracism). Eskimo punishments were not created to reprimandthe criminal, but instead were efforts to reestablish the desired peace (2, 164). The serious act of murder however, was the only crime which could not be amended by such simple measures. Ablood vengeance was always required in return for the taking of a life and ongoing feuds betweenextended families were common results.Needless to say, only a few leadership roles existed in Inuit society. Centered around the family,the eldest male served as an authority within eaBesides these familial leadership roles, no other central figureheads, such as a tribal king or leader,were empowered. This may be due to the fact that Eskimo societies were centered aroundcooperation and non-aggressive methods (4, 64). To have a central figurehead would most likelyimpair this liberal societal structure. However, there is one figure that may be seen as a power tobe recognized and he is the shaman.And The Nunatsiavut Government may make laws for the administration of Inuit law and toestablish necessary enforcement structures, including an Inuit law enforcement agency and an Inuitcourt.A new legal education initiative may soon help Nunavummiut become lawyers through a programthat is the first of its kind in Canada.The University of Victoria announced last week that financial support from the Nunavut and federalgovernments would pay for the development of a four-year program that would see a group of 10-15 Nunavut students study law through a distance education program."There is nothing like this in Canada, maybe even the world," said the University of Victoria’s Deanof Law, Jamie Cassels, in a press release issued last week.He expects the program will cost $30,000 per student and wants potential employers to help paythe cost of delivering the program, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Sept. 1, 2001.An old Inuit law is that a hunter, when going on the floe edge always has to bring a harpoon.“the law of Australia consists of the Australiancommon law(which is based on) theEnglish common law),federallaws enacted by theParliament of Australia,and laws enacted by the Parliaments of the Australian states and territories.The most important law of Australia is
 
theConstitution of Australia,which describes Australia's system of constitutional monarchy, and forms the basis for thegovernment of Australia.Each of theStates and territories of Australiathat areself-governingare separate  jurisdictions,and have their own system of courts and parliaments. The system of laws ineach State are influential on each other, but not binding. Laws passed by the Parliament of Australia, and common law made by federal courts (such as theHigh Court of Australia)are federal laws, and apply to the whole of Australia.The organized system of law and government now in force in Australia is historicallydependent for its legal validity on a series of British statues, notably including the
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 
1900.The authority of theUnited KingdomParliamentto enact those statutes depended on the acquisition of the Australian continentas a territorial possession of theBritish Crown.Reception of English lawTraditionally Australia had remained as a "settled" territory, which does not have any lawsunder it. It has been observed that after few years later this country also followed theEnglish common law and statute law, as part of the "birthrights" (inWilliam Blackstone'sterms) which English people carried with them. It has been observed that the colonies hadinhered tied United Kingdom laws. Even the first Australian colony,New South Wales, wasfounded on26 January1788,followed the same path.Letters patentin1787(the New South Wales Charter of Justice) had demanded to establish a court in the new colony.The law began to develop independently, when theSupreme Court of New South Wales was established in1824, though all decisions were still subject to review by English courts.TheUnited Kingdom Parliamentbecame more powerful to legislate specifically for thecolony. In the19th centurysuch legislation was said to operate by "paramount force".Other colonies established there own court system and started working independently, asthe other colonies were granted independence from New South Wales, and began todevelop their common law separately from each other.Australian common lawTheHigh Court of AustraliaWhen theHigh Court of Australiawas established in1903, it began to develop a body of  federal common law, relating to areas in which the High Court has original jurisdiction (for example, matters involving international treaties, or cases where theCommonwealth of Australiais aparty). By this stage, Australia was more independent from the United Kingdom, and the High Court was bolder in moving away from English law.After appeals to theJudicial Committee of the Privy Councilwere abolished by theAustralia Actsof 1986,the High Court became the court of "last resort" in Australia. As it stands, appeals to the Privy Council in England are still possible, but require the assent of the High Court of Australia. The High Court has only once granted their assent to anyparty, in 1912, and indicated in Kerman v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 2) (1985), their intention never to grant such assent again. As such, the court has been completely free tomove away from English precedents. In recent years, Australian courts have thus beenmore amenable to considering the common law of countries likeCanadaand theUnited Stateswhen deciding cases.Federal lawAustralIan federal laws are made primarily by the Parliament of Australia.Section 51 of the Australian Constitutiondescribes the areas which the Parliament has the power tomakes laws about, such as defense, immigration and customs. Section 109 of theConstitution provides that where federal and state laws are inconsistent with each other,the federal law prevails under Section 109 of the Australian Constitution.State lawsEach of the Australian States areself-governing, and have their own Parliaments and courtsystems. In some areas, the law is very similar between the States, and in others, it is very
 
different. A major difference is in thecriminal law.In the states of Queensland,Tasmania andWestern Australia, the criminal law is governed by statutory criminal codes, whereasthe other states rely on the common law. InVictoria,some elements of the criminal law,such as penalties and definitions of various terms, and some of the more recentlydescribed crimes, are described by statute. However, most of the major crimes, such asmost of the (forms of homicide, are still governed by the common law.)”Steve Irwin was born on February 22 1962 and died September 4th whenhe was killed when a stingray’s barb pieced his chest and his heart. He was 44 atthe time. He was a legend to many Australian peopleThe legend of Kitheeok History: Running alongthe cold plains of the arctic, a pack of wolveschase a herd of oxen trying to separate a calf or aweaker adult ox. Racing alongside the pack, ahuman Inuk boy easily keeps pace with both wolf and ox. He sees an older bull loose footing andtumble to the ground. The pack circles the bullwaiting for an opportunity to attack. A bolt of iceshoots from the teenager's hands freezing theoxen's leg and preventing it from standing. Thepack has their meal but the boy still needs food for his people. Now that the wolves were no longer interested in the herd, it would be easy for Kitheeok to grab his prey without loosing it to thewolves. Years of hunting had given him theknowledge of how much ice was needed to slowthe older cow enough to separate it from the herd.If he waited too long, the herd would stop andregroup. His prey was an older cow, one that wastoo old to give birth to calves. In this way, heensured the oxen herd would continue. Onceagain, a burst of ice flew from his hands,enveloping the cow and slowing her heart rate andher speed. Kitheeok approached the cow,whispered a small concession to the spirits, andthen applied a concentrated touch to the animal'shead.
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duponthumanite

Sounds like a good grasping of the concept. Great special-interest project, learning about different cultures.

reply08 / 10 / 2010
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