The Mabo Case

By the beginning of the 1980's some legal observers believed that if the right case was brought to the High Court there might finally be, in Justice Deane's words, a "retreat from injustice" in Australia, similar to that which had been reached in American law in the 1820's and 1830's.

The "right" case seemed to arrive in 1981 when Eddie Mabo decided to go to court.

No one could argue that the Meriam people did not 'cultivate the soil', for as Justice Brennan noted, they were "devoted gardeners". And it would be hard to argue that the Murray Islanders' relationship to their lands was not 'proprietary'. The evidence showed they owned land as individuals and as families, and had clearly demarcated property boundaries.

The major challenge was to persuade the High Court that the Common Law of Australia, properly considered, does provide recognition and protection for the pre-existing land rights of the Indigenous peoples.

• Terra Nullius Defined
• International Law
• Colonisation
• Human Rights
• Takeovers
• Bases For Takeovers
• Justifications
• Barbarism
• Hierarchies Of Land Use
• Recent Changes To International Law
• Territorial Integrity
• The Common Law Of England
• Common Law Rules For New English Territories
• Settled & Conquered Colonies
• The Status Of The Australian Colonies
• Reception Of English Law
• Sovereignty & Ownership Distinguished
• Other Lands Settled By The British
• Terra Nullius & Australia
• Crown Land
• Gove Case
• The Gove Decision Questioned
• The Mabo Case
• The Mabo Decision
• Britain's Acquisition Of Sovereignty
• Pre-Existing Land Rights
• The Doctrine Of Tenures Reconsidered
• Extinguishment Of Native Title
• Sovereignty & Indigenous Self-Government