Description
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Aboriginal Customary Law: A Source of Common Law Title to Land by Ulla Secher
Described as ground-breaking in Kent McNeils Foreword this book develops an alternative approach to conventional Aboriginal title doctrine. It explains that aboriginal customary law can be a source of common law title to land in former British colonies whether they were acquired by settlement or by conquest or cession from another colonising power. The doctrine of common law aboriginal customary title provides a coherent approach to the source content proof and protection of Aboriginal land rights which overcomes problems arising from the law as currently understood and leads to more just results. The doctrines applicability in Australia Canada and South Africa is specifically demonstrated. While the jurisprudential underpinnings for the doctrine are consistent with fundamental common law principles the author explains that the Australian High Courts decision in Mabo provides a broader basis for the doctrine: a broader basis which is consistent with a re-evaluation of case-law from former British colonies in Africa as well as from the United States New Zealand and Canada. In this context the book proffers a reconceptualization of the Crowns title to land in former colonies and a reassessment of conventional doctrines including the doctrine of tenure and the doctrine of continuity.