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THE RECOGNITION OF ABORIGINAL CUSTOMARY LAWS - 723. Constitution of the Courts.
Aboriginal courts, presided over by Aboriginal justices of the peace,
operate in fourteen Aboriginal trust areas (formerly reserves)
throughout Queensland. [139] They have existed in substantially their
present form for twenty years. Their operation and scope, as well
as that of the reserve system itself, have been the subject of
recent review, and new legislation has been enacted. The
Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984
(Qld), which repealed the Aborigines Act 1971 (Qld), seeks to create
a new regime for the regulation and control of Aboriginal 'trust
areas', [140] including new provisions for the operation of
Aboriginal courts. [141] This new legislation was necessary to
support the proposal to grant title to Aboriginal reserve land to
Local Aboriginal Councils in the form of a deed of grant in trust.
[142] The first deeds of grant in trust were made in November 1985
to certain of the Torres Strait Islands. No grants have yet been
made to Aboriginal reserve land. Section 42 of the
Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984
(Qld) enables each trust area to have an Aboriginal court,
constituted:
(a) by two justices of the peace each of whom being an Aboriginal
resident in the area for which the court is constituted and being
entitled to sit as a member of the court in a particular case; or
(b) where paragraph (a) cannot be complied with, by the members of
the Aboriginal Council established for the area concerned or a
majority of them. [143]
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