Pre-Existing Land Rights

The next proposition the High Court considered was this:
Because English law took effect in Australian colonies from the start, should the rights of indigenous people under their own laws therefore be disregarded?

The Court's response was to reverse this convenient assumption of the previous two hundred and four years, and in doing so, it finally brought Australian law into line with common law as developed in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

But to do this, the Court first needed to untangle the notion of sovereignty acquired by the Crown, and the question of who actually owns the land. Because, while land might be terra nullius for the purpose of sovereignty, it does not necessarily follow that it should be treated as terra nullius in regard to land rights. This is because land that is terra nullius for the purpose of sovereignty, need not necessarily be terra nullius when determining land rights.

• 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