Download pdf
The Impact of Colonial Legal Systems on Indigenous Rights and Modern Legal Redress Mechanisms
- 1 City University of Macau
- 2 City University of Macau
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Due to incomplete records from the colonial period, particularly regarding cases of infringement on indigenous rights that often went undocumented, research struggles to fully reflect the legal impacts of that era. Therefore, this study explores the profound influence of colonial legal systems on indigenous rights and analyzes how modern legal redress mechanisms address and compensate for these historical injustices. The article first outlines how colonial legal systems deprived indigenous rights in areas such as land ownership, judicial fairness, and identity recognition, drawing on relevant legal documents and historical literature. Subsequently, through case analysis, the study examines the specific impacts of colonial legal systems on indigenous rights across different periods, employing qualitative and quantitative analysis to assess the effectiveness of modern legal redress mechanisms in restoring indigenous rights, safeguarding cultural heritage, and promoting social justice. The findings reveal the depth and breadth of these historical impacts. Data indicate that indigenous land ownership during the colonial period rated only 2 out of 10. Additionally, economic restrictions imposed on indigenous populations disadvantaged them in competition with Portuguese merchants. The study shows that, through a comparative analysis of legal influences over different periods, the rating of indigenous land rights improved to 4 in the pre-reversion period but continued to face challenges in cultural protection, scoring only 3.
Keywords
Colonial Law, Indigenous Rights, Legal Redress, Macau History, Cultural Protection
[1]. Amaro, V. (2024). Crowing in two voices: The cultural transformation of the Portuguese rooster in postcolonial Macau. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1-14.
[2]. Peralta, E., Delaunay, M., & Góis, B. (2022). Portuguese (post-) imperial migrations: Race, citizenship, and labour. Journal of Migration History, 8(3), 404-431.
[3]. Xie, Q., Ursini, F. A., & Samo, G. (2023). Urbanonyms in Macao. Names, 71(1), 29-43.
[4]. Mert, M. K. (2024). Looking at post-colonial feminism: A reading through the views of Maria Mies. Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 24(2), 583-596.
[5]. Tomášek, M. (2023). Legal cultures between Europe and the Far East in historical context. Cesky Casopis Historicky, 121(2), 441-480.
[6]. Ayaz, S., Khan, S. S., & Ahmed, Q. H. (2023). Analyzing Kamila Shamsie’s A God in Every Stone: Colonialism and resistance. Pakistan Journal of Social Research, 5(1), 248-253.
[7]. Kammen, D., & Tian, Y. (2023). Polygamy in Timor-Leste: From colonial taxation to post-independence revival. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde/Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 179(3-4), 353-381.
[8]. Li, A. M. Y. (2023). Hindrance or helping hand?: Hong Kong and Sino-British railway commercial diplomacy, 1974–84. The International History Review, 45(3), 590-605.
[9]. Ricart-Huguet, J. (2022). The origins of colonial investments in former British and French Africa. British Journal of Political Science, 52(2), 736-757.
[10]. Canen, N., & Wantchekon, L. (2022). Political distortions, state capture, and economic development in Africa. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36(1), 101-124.
[11]. Turner, J., & Bailey, D. (2022). ‘Ecobordering’: Casting immigration control as environmental protection. Environmental Politics, 31(1), 110-131.
[12]. Bernards, N. (2022). Colonial financial infrastructures and Kenya’s uneven fintech boom. Antipode, 54(3), 708-728.
[13]. Hartwig, L. D., Jackson, S., Markham, F., et al. (2022). Water colonialism and Indigenous water justice in south-eastern Australia. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 38(1), 30-63.
[14]. Ayyash, M. (2024). Colonial racial capitalism and violence: Theorising the relationship between empire and Israeli settler colonialism. Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies, 23(2), 205-220.
[15]. Sondarjee, M., & Andrews, N. (2022). Decolonizing international relations and development studies: What’s in a buzzword? International Journal, 77(4), 551-571.
Cite this article
Huang,H.;Jin,Y. (2024). The Impact of Colonial Legal Systems on Indigenous Rights and Modern Legal Redress Mechanisms. Advances in Social Behavior Research,13,19-24.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Journal：Advances in Social Behavior Research
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).