1st Edition
Constitutionalism of Australian First Nations A Comparative Study
The book considers Australian First Nations constitutionalism by drawing on the chthonic constitutional traditions of three distinct Australian First Nations legal orders: the Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi legal orders, in the endeavour of identifying, via a comparative analysis, a core of similarities to be drawn upon and articulate an emergent legal theory common to the three legal orders. The comparative analysis is undertaken at the most foundational levels of their legal traditions, via the prism of a legal paradigm elaborated with reference to an Australian Indigenous cosmological, ontological, and epistemological standpoint. The proposed legal theory comprises a broad overview, general concepts, normative principles, and general working principles. In so doing, the book expounds how Australian First Nations constitutionalism unfolds into holistic orders of spiritual, political, and legal authority that are explainable in terms of legal theory. At the most foundational level, such elaboration may help delineate normative and legal constitutional patterns throughout Indigenous Australia.
Acknowledgments
Preface
PART ONE: First Nations Constitutionalism, Conceptual Apparatus, and Methodological Framework
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: A conceptual narrative of constitutionalism: modern conceptualisation and contemporary (re) formulations
Chapter 3: A conceptual apparatus for inquiries into Australian First Nations constitutionalism
Chapter 4: Journeying ‘extraordinary places’: methodological approaches for a macro-intercultural comparison of Australian First Nations constitutional orders
PART TWO: The Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi Constitutional Orders Compared
Chapter 5: The genesis of the Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi constitutional orders
Chapter 6: The foundational principles of the Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi constitutional orders
Chapter 7: The basic institutional elements of the Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi constitutional orders
PART THREE: An Emergent Legal Theory of the Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi Constitutional Orders
Chapter 8: Articulation of an emergent legal theory for the Warlpiri, Yolngu, and Pintupi constitutional orders
Chapter 9: Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Dr Maria Salvatrice Randazzo is a Research Fellow at the Asian Pacific College of Business and Law, Charles Darwin University, Australia. Her areas of specialization and research include comparative legal systems, transnational law, human rights, Indigenous legal theory, Western legal theory, and Indigenous constitutionalism. She has been admitted to the Court of Appeal of Messina and the Court of Cassation of Rome as a barrister. She has also been admitted to the Northern Territory Supreme Court as a legal practitioner.
