Abstract
Law and the culture of law find their expression in the many facets of the law's institutions. One of the most visible of these is the architecture of the places in which the legal process is enacted. Through architecture it is possible to communicate widely variant cultural perspectives on the rule of law. In contemporary Australia, an advanced and successful democracy, Aboriginal families continue to experience grossly disproportionate incarceration rates in the justice and correctional institutional systems, often in demonstrably inappropriate environments. Most commentators agree that a significant contributing factor to overrepresentation in these institutions is the high degree of cultural loss that Aboriginal Australia has suffered, and continues to suffer. This paper argues that part of the solution lies in an acknowledgment of and engagement with Aboriginal culture where it persists as an evident and potentially viable feature of Aboriginal communities. Anthropologists, sociologists, Aboriginal advocates and linguists have furnished tools necessary to implement a culturally literate understanding in the endeavors of law reformers, architects and agents of economic development. Nevertheless there remains at political and key administrative levels, significant pockets of resistance to such an approach to reform. The author, a practicing architect specializing in the design of a broad range of facilities in cross cultural environments, draws upon successful examples of both built works and projects to demonstrate a proven approach to tackling the problem successfully. It is suggested that whilst the cultural circumstances of Aboriginal Australia are unique, the underlying principles of the approach advanced by this paper may be broadly applicable in many of the projects supported by the World Bank and others working towards the advancement of justice reform through the implementation of practical initiatives in communities.
Highlights
In 2007 we47 were engaged to undertake exhaustive consultation leading to the design of a major contemporary courts complex in the remote regional town of Kalgoorlie, in the heart of Western Australia’s productive gold fields
While this paper focuses on experience in working directly with Australian Aboriginal communities, occasional references are made to international examples in both the justice-reform and architecture fields to point the reader towards the broader applicability of some of the points being made
That is for every dollar spent on the operation of an Aboriginal court, the State of Western Australia will save at least $2.50...If more than one Aboriginal court is established, the cost and benefit figures will both be amplified by the number of courts, leaving the benefit cost ratio the same
Summary
In 2007 we were engaged to undertake exhaustive consultation leading to the design of a major contemporary courts complex in the remote regional town of Kalgoorlie, in the heart of Western Australia’s productive gold fields. At the time of writing, the project had been completed to detailed design development phase. There are encouraging signs that we may yet soon build it, more or less as designed. The Kalgoorlie Courts Project includes three magistrates courts, two jury courts, and a range of mediation, registry, and other support facilities. The site is the heritageprotected, historic limestone Warden’s Court and Post Office building in the heart of Kalgoorlie’s heritage precinct. This brief presented a range of challenges, which many considered insurmountable
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