Hunting-Prohibition in the Hunters' Autonomous Area: Legal Rights of Oroqen People and the Implementation of Regional National Autonomy Law

Abstract

AbstractThe hunting-prohibition announced by the Oroqen autonomous government in the Oroqen hunters' homeland, raise controversial issues of the actual function of regional national autonomy and the effectiveness of the implementation of law in relation to this autonomy arrangement in China. In this article, three key issues of this case are discussed in relation to the institutional design and practice of regional national autonomy: i.e., the exercise of Oroqen autonomy in the process of local forest exploitation; the representation of the Oroqen in the organs of self-government and the procedures of decision-making in the reform of the Oroqen's traditional way of life. These issues are both independent and interrelated to the legal rights of the Oroqen people based on Chinese domestic law and international treaties. Through the description and analysis of the Oroqen case, this research presents the institutional obstacles for the Oroqen people to realise their rights and the failure of the regional national autonomy to fulfill its stated purpose.