Mipela Makim Gavman: Unofficial Village Courts and Local Perceptions of Order in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT

In remote villages of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, where official village courts and other state institutions are absent, local leaders routinely hold unofficial village courts to maintain law and order. They base their decisions on local perceptions of order and justice, all the while emulating elements of state justice and constantly referring to the state as the source of their legitimacy. As these unofficial judicial institutions historically emerged as a convergence of local patterns of leadership with colonial concepts of order, they neither form a completely new nor completely autochthonous method of conflict settlement, but are an example of para-statehood, in which local leaders take on state functions in the absence of the state.     

Knowing and the truth: Three histories of Daugo Island,Papua New Guinea

Courts of law in Melanesian countries, particularly in the aftermath of the colonial period, have attempted to accommodate ‘custom’. In Papua New Guinea they commonly hear land claims under terms of reference that acknowledge the wide variety of customs among the many ethno‐linguistic groups comprising the nation. A corollary of this liberalism is that, in theory, they admit ‘traditional evidence’ including legends and myths. Yet as courts of law they are required to apply some criteria of proof and to search for the ‘truth’ by examining the ‘facts’. A long‐running land case from Papua New Guinea and its aftermath raises interesting questions about what happens when oral history encounters these legal imperatives, and may help us appreciate why Melanesians often do not regard a court's decision as final.     

Afterword: In Search of Melanesian Order

ABSTRACT

These essays explore three contemporary forms of order in Papua New Guinea: improvised village courts, a nursing school curriculum including village practicums, and student boycotts and strikes. My comments assess these new sorts of order as reflected against earlier ethnographic accounts of Papua New Guinean societies as well as those elsewhere in Melanesia. This often has taken the region’s social groups and lineages, religions and belief systems, and most recently the Melanesian state itself to be weak, messy, and inconstant. I ask how culturally ‘Melanesian’ are these contemporary examples of order and disorder, and find significant continuities in their underlying nostalgia for an imagined, more orderly past, in beliefs about causes of disorder, and in strategies and remedies to order and reorder everyday life.     

How Are the Interests of Incapacitated Research Participants Protected through Legislation? An Italian Study on Legal Agency for Dementia Patients

Background

Patients with dementia may have limited capacity to give informed consent to participate in clinical research. One possible way to safeguard the patients'' interests in research is the involvement of a proxy in the recruitment process. In Italy, the system of proxy is determined by the courts. In this study we evaluate the timing for appointment of a legal proxy in Italy and identify predictive variables of appointment.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Subjects were recruited among the outpatients seeking medical advice for cognitive complaints at the Centre for Research and Treatment of Cognitive Dysfunctions, University of Milan, “Luigi Sacco” Hospital.The Centre was participating to the AdCare Study, a no-profit randomised clinical trial coordinated by the Italian National Institute of Health. The requirement that informed consent be given by a legal representative dramatically slowed down the recruitment process in AdCare, which was prematurely interrupted. The Centre for Research and Treatment of Cognitive Dysfunctions collected data on the timing required to appoint the legal representatives. Patients diagnosed with dementia and their caregivers were provided information on the Italian law on legal agency (law 6/2004). At each scheduled check-up the caregiver was asked whether she/he had applied to appoint a legal proxy for the patient and the time interval between the presentation of the law, the registration of the application at the law court chancellery and the sentence of appointment was registered. The study involved 169 demented patients. Seventy-eight patients (46.2%) applied to appoint a legal proxy. These subjects were usually younger, had been suffering from dementia for a longer time, had less than two children and made more use of memantine. The mean interval time between the presentation of the law and the patients'' application to the law court chancellery was two months. The mean interval time between the patient''s application to the law court chancellery and the sentence of appointment was four months.

Conclusions/Significance

In Italy the requirement that legal representatives be appointed by the courts slows down subjects'' participation in research. Other procedures for legal agency of the incapacitated patients may be adopted, taking as examples other EU countries'' systems.     

The use of auxiliary courts by the lek-forming White-bearded Manakin Manacus manacus (Aves, Pipridae)

The White-bearded Manakin is a passerine specially noted for elaborate courtship. Each resident male has a cleaned oval court delimited by saplings in leks. No study mentions the use of more than one court by a territorial male during the breeding season. We report the use of auxiliary courts by males in the lowland forest of southeastern Brazil and discuss its probable function in attracting females for mating. Additionally, we experimentally modified a male’s main courts, testing that auxiliary courts serve as alternative display places. Twelve males from four different leks were observed for 145 h. Six males used from one to four auxiliary courts located 1.0 to 8.1 m from their main courts. The males that also used auxiliary courts displayed more than males that used only the main court. Nevertheless, the proportion of female visits per display time indicates that males that used only the main court have greater efficiency in attracting potential mates. Individual males responded differently to the experimental modification of their main courts, but one male avoided the modified court. The use of auxiliary courts may be a strategy adopted mainly by peripheral males to attract females that visit more successful males with central territories on the lek. In the short term, auxiliary courts function as optional display places in cases of loss of the main court. In the long term, the use of auxiliary courts may be involved in the temporal persistence of lek areas.     

Courts as communicators: Can doctors learn from judges' decisions?

The role of the courts in 'communicating' with those affected by their decisions is contentious. Some legal commentators maintain that courts and legislators are able to communicate decisions effectively and that attempts to 'dumb down' the law will not make such decisions more accessible to doctors and other professionals. Justice Michael Kirby, on the other hand, seems to share the present author's view that judges could improve their communication of their decisions to a wider audience: 'In future, it seems inevitable that proceedings [of the High Court] will be broadcast live. Maybe one of the judges will explain the decisions of the court in simple terms as they are handed down ... Adaptation to new ways and values is part of the genius of our law, although some if its practitioners need to be dragged kicking and screaming to accomplish the changes' (emphasis added).(1) This article explores the position in Australia.     

The offshore jurisdiction of the states of the United States and the provinces of Canada—A comparison

Abstract

The coastal state has jurisdiction over the resources located in the seas and seabed adjacent to its coast. In federal states the question has arisen as to whether the rights in those resources are to be held by the national government or by the subsidiary territorial governments. It has been the focus of political activity and court litigation in the United States and Canada. This paper reviews in detail the status of the offshore claims of the states of the United States and the provinces of Canada. In delimiting these boundaries two systems of law have become relevant—modern public international law and historic common law. Both systems of law have advantages and disadvantages for the courts and interested parties. While the United States has chosen a route that relies very heavily on modern public international law, the Canadian situation is less clear. Litigation now in progress may resolve this issue in Canada by court decree unless a political settlement is reached first. A recent agreement between the Federal Government of Canada and the Gov eminent of Nova Scotia which calls for joint management and revenue sharing may point the way toward such a settlement.     

Development,Labour Relations and Gender in Papua New Guinea.

This paper examines the relationship between ‘subsistence’ production, simple commodity production and wage labour and the different effects this relationship has on males and females. The peri-urban village of Siar, located a few kilometres north of Madang town in Papua New Guinea, is used as a case study. It is argued that the village as a social group is dependent on wage labour for its reproduction and hence is proletarianized. As part of the proletarianization process, married women in the village have become doubly subordinated: to capital and to men.     

PSYCHIATRY AND THE LAW

In Rex vs. Arnold (1724) it was held that to avail himself of the defense of insanity “a man must be totally deprived of his understanding and memory, so as not to know what he is doing, no more than an infant, a brute, or a wild beast.” Although there has been some modification of this formula in most jurisdictions, the courts still operate under the McNaghten Rule (1843) which is no more logical and actually is more difficult to apply. That such a situation exists in 1956 is a reflection on the indifference of society—and particularly the courts which it elects—as well as on the failure of modern psychiatry to communicate its viewpoint to society. If we are to correct the sad formulae of the “right and wrong” and “policeman at the elbow” tests, we must have more study and better methods of communication in this area.A similar state of confusion exists in the methods of commitment of mentally ill people to psychiatric hospitals. The methods prescribed by law are archaic and cruel—and again reflect the failure of modern psychiatry to communicate its understanding to the legislatures and courts.There are many other areas of conflict between law (which looks to the past for its insights) and psychiatry (which seeks for its concepts in the current scientific advances).     

Agriculture and nutrition at village level, Underexploited village resources

Developing country villages contain plants, animals and technologies whose extraordinary potentials are poorly appreciated by scientists. Examples of nutritious village crops that are still largely undeveloped and unappreciated outside their traditional villages are the winged bean, amaranths and the tepary bean. Tropical tree legumes, such as leucaena, grow fast and fix nitrogen and--although barely studied by foresters--are promising sources for village firewood and lumber. There are several animals with great promise for use in villages. The water buffalo is a gentle, productive village resource, neglected by the cow used by Indonesian villagers and unknown elsewhere in the tropics. And Papua New Guinea's new village farms for crocodiles and butterflies graphically demonstrate that wildlife husbandry can be valuable for remote rural areas, despite its neglect by animal science. Among exceptionally useful village technologies, an example is the amazingly efficient cooking system used on the small Indonesian islands of Roti and Sumba, which has so far been described only in Captain Cook's journals.     

Why Alewai village needed a church: Some reflections on Christianity,conversion, and male leadership in south‐east Papua New Guinea

In the Vula'a villages of south‐east Papua New Guinea, the experience of more than a century of Christianity has been incorporated into local understandings of identity and tradition. Church‐building (in both the architectural and ideological sense) is at the centre of village life. Even though it was a general policy of the London Missionary Society to build a church in every village in which conversion was undertaken, they did not build a church in the Vula'a village of Alewai. In 2001 the fact that Alewai did not have a church initiated a chain of events that draws attention to a situation of current relevance for Papua New Guinea, as evangelists no longer work to convert the ‘heathen’ but to convert Christians from one denomination to another. As a case study the article is focused on the pastors and deacons of the United Church and thus also serves to document some of the changes that have occurred in male leadership since the early colonial era.     

KINSHIP MATTERS: WOMEN's LAND CLAIMS IN THE SANTAL PARGANAS, JHARKHAND

This article discusses the strengthening of kinship ties amongst the Santal community in a village in Jharkhand state in India. The context of progressive marginalization from the state and markets has resulted in the Santals asserting their adivasi identity by recourse to customary institutions as well as rigidifying patrilineal rules of inheritance. While this leads generally to an erosion of women's rights to inherit land, under certain circumstances women are supported by kin elders when they bring grievances to the legal courts. Women's relationship to their kinship group thus seems ambiguous: kinship can simultaneously be not only a source of deprivation and suppression but also a way of staking claims to resources, especially in the face of the inadequacies of formal state mechanisms.     

The legal investigation of a decision not to operate on an infant with Down's syndrome and a duodenal atresia: a report from the Netherlands

It is well-known that in the Netherlands it has for several years been possible to carry out voluntary euthanasia quite openly, provided certain strict conditions are fulfilled. This situation has arisen because courts in the Netherlands have decided that doctors who end the lives of their patients under these conditions are in a "conflict of duties" situation, and therefore should not be convicted of any criminal offence. It has, however, not been known what view a Netherlands court might take about life and death decisions concerning patients who are not capable of giving consent -- for example, infants. This report briefly outlines my experience in the case of an infant with Down's syndrome and duodenal atresia -- a blockage of the digestive system that must be operated upon if the infant is to survive. A decision was taken not to operate, and this decision resulted in the Netherlands courts considering whether criminal proceedings were justified.     

Carol Anne Bond v the United States of America: how a woman scorned threatened the Chemical Weapons Convention

The case of Carol Anne Bond v the United States of America stemmed from a domestic dispute when Ms. Bond attempted to retaliate against her best friend by attacking her with chemical agents. What has emerged is a much greater issue--a test of standing on whether a private citizen can challenge the Tenth Amendment. Instead of being prosecuted in state court for assault, Ms. Bond was charged and tried in district court under a federal criminal statute passed as part of implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Ms. Bond's argument rests on the claim that the statute exceeded the federal government's enumerated powers in criminalizing her behavior and violated the Constitution, while the government contends legislation implementing treaty obligations is well within its purview. This question remains unanswered because there is dispute among the lower courts as to whether Ms. Bond, as a citizen, even has the right to challenge an amendment guaranteeing states rights when a state is not a party to the action. The Supreme Court heard the case on February 22, 2011, and, if it decides to grant Ms. Bond standing to challenge her conviction, the case will be returned to the lower courts. Should the court decide Ms. Bond has the standing to challenge her conviction and further questions the constitutionality of the law, it would be a significant blow to implementation of the CWC in the U.S. and the effort of the federal government to ensure we are meeting our international obligations.     

Legal aspects of telepathology.

In some legal surroundings telepathology is considered a breach of registrational barriers. The recommendation of the G 8 states in Europe for required legislation in telemedicine suggests to recognise that the localization of the remote health care professional defines the site not only of licensure but also of liability. This approach must be considered helpful, since it can solve many problems brought about by the doubtful results of private international law and conventions like the European Union (EU) and Lugano Convention. Under today's conditions in private international law it must be considered essential to agree upon a choice of law and stipulate a court of jurisdiction when doing telepathology. However, the opposing aims of insuring the patients claims and avoiding jurisdictions that exceed the local expectations of the medical professional must be reconciled. Data protection and data security are other crucial topics that require attention. Generally speaking, the principles of minimum data exchange, anonymity, pseudonymity and cryptography must be established as a basis for all telepathology procedures. Only when personal data is needed, its use can be legitimated. Written consent of the patient is advised. To guarantee a cross-border security level the regulations of the EU-Data Protection Directive need to be transformed into national law. In practise, cross-border dataflow shall only take place where the security level can be maintained even within the other country. Finally, reimbursement questions must be answered to establish a sound economical basis for telepathology. The spatial distance between the participants may yield the question, whether the service has been rendered to an extent necessary and sufficient for reimbursement. If reimbursement takes place on a cross-border or cross-regional level, severe disturbances of the health systems can occur. Regulation schemes or treaties need therefore to be developed to avoid such disturbances and encompass mutual standards of care as well as methods to balance reimbursement.     

The impacts of dependent development on community and resources in Kilenge,Papua New Guinea

In recent years, many rural Third World communities have suffered from the gradual degradation of the natural resources on which they depend. The Kilenge people of West New Britain, Papua New Guinea, offer such an example. The paper examines some of the nutritional, economic, social, and political impacts of these changes on the individual, on the household, and on the community in one Kilenge village. It argues that there may be alternatives to dependent development for this community. It concludes that redirected priorities can assist indigenous communities like Kilenge to achieve sustainable selfdirected economic improvement.     

Christianity,cultural change and the negotiation of rights in land and sea

Various aspects of Christian belief and practice have been documented as significant across Aboriginal Australia. In recent years, many communities have been involved in seeking to achieve traditional rights in land and sea as recognised in Australian law. Asserting and proving these rights entails demonstrating continuity of traditional law and custom since the establishment of British sovereignty. While legal discourse indicates that this does not exclude cultural change, law and custom must continue to derive from pre‐sovereignty traditions. This article addresses the extent to which Christian belief and practice have been articulated and researched in applied anthropological work, against the background of relevant academic studies. If a sophisticated theory of cultural change and continuity is germane to researching land claims and native title, what is the significance of Christian syncretism in Aboriginal relations with place and the inheritance of ancestral connections to ‘country’? Several case studies are examined.     

Determining medical fitness to drive: physicians' responsibilities in Canada.

Current legislation indicates that physicians in Canada have a legal responsibility to know which medical conditions may impede driving ability, to detect these conditions in their patients and to discuss with their patients the implications of these conditions. The requirements to report unfit drivers vary among the provinces, and the interpretations of the law vary among the courts; therefore, physicians'' risks of liability are unclear. Physicians may be sued by their patients if they fail to counsel the patients on the dangers of driving associated with certain medications or medical conditions. Physicians may also face legal action by victims of motor vehicle accidents caused by their patients if the court decides that the physicians could have foreseen the danger of their patients'' continuing to drive. Physicians'' legal responsibilities to report patients with certain medical conditions override their ethical responsibilities to keep patients'' medical histories confidential.     

The Incorporated What Group: Ethnographic,Economic and Ideological Perspectives on Customary Land Ownership in Contemporary Papua New Guinea

Land law and economic development in Papua New Guinea, by David Lea and Timothy Curtin. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, UK, 2011, 207pp. ISBN: 9-781443-826518.

The incorporated land group (ILG), created by the Land Group Incorporation Act (1974) in Papua New Guinea, was one of a number of results of the 1971 Committee of Inquiry into Land Matters that convened in Papua New Guinea just before Papua New Guinea independence in 1975. It allowed for the legal incorporation of customary land-holding groups and was designed to promote business and cash-earning opportunities in rural Papua New Guinea in the post-independence period of nation- and citizen-building.

In more recent times, the ILG however has been put under considerably more strain by being forced to acquire functions that were not envisioned by its architects in 1971—namely the receipt, distribution and investment of incomes from resource extraction projects. The ILGs set up by various resource projects (most significantly in the petroleum project areas of PNG) have all run into various and severe difficulties in meeting these requirements of resource income management and business development on a scale not ever anticipated in 1971. Using examples from Papua New Guinea's petroleum project area and elsewhere, I cast doubts on the capacities of contemporary indigenous landowning units to make incorporation work for them in the face of current organization and financial challenges.