Where is the Law in Restorative Justice? - Taken from Book - Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada

Abstract

Restorative justice is seen by some as an important tool in moving toward, and sustaining, Aboriginal self-government. The main purpose of this chapter is to explore whether restorative justice can be usefully considered an expression and form of practice of local law, with a view to its implications for Aboriginal self-government. Specifically, the chapter explores how analysis changes with a shift from understanding restorative justice as a "program" to considering it an expression of local law, and therefore a critical aspect of on-the-ground self-government. The chapter addresses experiences and trends in the implementation of local law by examining the work of the Alexis First Nation Justice Committee (the Committee) in the Nakota community of Alexis First Nation, just outside Edmonton, Alberta.

Considering the work of the committee as being founded on local and/or Nakota law could enable Alexis First Nation community members to (1) find other expressions of local and Nakota law at work in the community, (2) extrapolate how the legal obligations, legal norms and legal principles of local and Nakota law might be applied elsewhere, perhaps to local governing institutions, and (3) critically examine how legal norms, obligations, and principles might be applied to other issues or conflicts. These are self-governing acts and are part of what self-government should encompass. The chapter will first develop a legal framework within which to discuss the concepts of local law and, to a lesser extent, restorative justice. This framework will then be applied as a lens to discern and describe the parameters and functions of local law that derive from the work of the committee.

Keywords: restorative justice, Aboriginal self-government, Aboriginal, law, Alexis First Nation Justice Committee, Nakota community, Edmonton, Alberta