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THE RECOGNITION OF ABORIGINAL CUSTOMARY LAWS - 711. Role of the General Legal System.
Aboriginal modes of dispute resolution at Yirrkala continue to be
affected by the general legal system, and conflicts occur. However
the local people, according to Dr Williams, had developed their own
methods of attempting to resolve the jurisdictional issue. by
distinguishing between those matters where they expected the general
legal systems, to intervene, and those matters they considered they
should deal with without such intervention. In this way the
authority of the clan leaders within a defined jurisdiction is
sought to be maintained. A distinction is drawn between 'little
trouble', including 'grievances that arise out of a breach of
kin-defined rights or duties' , [112] and 'big trouble' which refers
to situations involving 'physical assault which resulted in serious
injury or death and thereby made the act of assault highly
visible'. [113]
The consistent conjunction of remarks about big trouble and
Australian legal intervention [by Aborigines] indicated that the
defining attributes of this category were derived from those acts
which Yolngu had observed were most likely to be followed, if they
were noticed, by intervention of white Australian authorities. [114]
Intervention by white authorities in other than 'big trouble' as
defined was resented because it was regarded as an encroachment on
Aboriginal jurisdiction. Generally, the police did not in fact
intervene in purely Aboriginal disputes, thus reinforcing the
Aboriginal view. The community did however, reserve the right to
call in the police when they required their assistance, and this
right was perceived by them as an adjunct to their own power.
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