Craven on Aboriginal Law

[Les Schaffer <schaffer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[bounced from Jim Craven. This is the email portion, there is still a
Word document i need to convert. Les]

Charles,

Beautifully written. Thank you. In Aboriginal Law, there are five
fundamental mandates: 1) Truth; 2) Justice; 3) Healing; 4) Reconciliation;
5) Prevention of Future Abuses. The order reveals and reflects a certain
logic and these mandates form a Sacred Hoop (From Truth to Truth in the
sense that Prevention of Future Abuses is necessary to create and maintain a
climate conductive to the search for and respect for Truth).

Prevention of Future Abuses requires Reconciliation among existing and
potential enemies or adversaries; Reconciliation without Healing is a phony
"get-over-it" and "keep-the-present-system-and-ill-gotten-gains" type of
"Reconciliation; Healing without real Justice will never occur (How can you
ask someone who has been denied "Justice" to heal?; real Justice is
impossible without the Truth being sought and told.

So: Truth--->Justice
    Truth and Justice--> Healing
    Truth, Justice and Healing-->Reconciliation
    Truth, Justice, Healing and Reconciliation-->Prevention of Future Abuses
    Truth, Justice, Healing, Reconciliation, Prevention of Future
Abuses-->Truth
(see attached).

In the non-Aboriginal courts, truth and justice are not the issue or the
explicit goals--it is about winning and losing. To that end, you get
jury/judge/venue shopping, contrived direct examinations to reduce
devastating cross-examinations (withholding and suppressing material
evidence) etc, contrived order of witnesses, contrived precedents, Ad
Hominem, Appeal to Authority and all sorts of other fallacies passed off as
"argument" or even evidence, dueling "Expert" Witnesses for sale, etc. None
of this is tolerated in a true Aboriginal Court.

Jim