Law and Custom in the Australian Territory of Papua and New Guinea

Abstract

XUSTRALIA IS committed by the United Nations Charter to the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants of Papua and New Guinea. Although that commitment extends formally only to what was originally German New Guinea, the Australian government is applying it equally to the Territory of Papua.' In 1949 the trust territory of New Guinea and the Australian Territory of Papua were united in an administrative union. Since that time their administration has been carried on as one government.2 In recent years much has been heard about self-government for emerging peoples in underdeveloped areas of the world. This article outlines two matters that confront those concerned with assisting primitive communities to emerge as self-governing peoples: The relation between the law that courts know and the customs of the communities served by that law; and the role that courts play as social and economic structures become more complicated. At the outset a background understanding of existing conditions in the area is necessary, and in particular it must be established that interference and assistance from an advanced civilization is required. The Territory of Papua and New Guinea covers a land area of more than 180,000 square miles and many thousands of square miles of sea. It supports an indigenous population estimated at about two million persons. The con-