Legal dissonance: the interaction of criminal law and customary law in Papua New Guinea, Shaun Larcom, New York, Berghahn, 2015, 178 pp., US$85 (hbk), ISBN: 9781782386483The Independent State of Papua New Guinea, like many other countries, struggles with serious problems of law and order. Murder, robbery, carjacking, and sexual and domestic abuse are just a few of the numerous offenses that strain the limited personnel, financial and technical resources of the country's police in the cities as well as rural areas. The Public Prosecutor, Public Solicitor and the courts, all of which also are understaffed and underfunded, deal with those who are arrested by applying the provisions of the Criminal Code. That Code, which is modelled on the Queensland Criminal Code, was adopted during the colonial era at the beginning of the 20th century. Although Papua New Guinea's Criminal Code has been amended numerous times over the decades, its norms and procedures remain essentially those of its British and Australian drafters.The Criminal Code was just one of the laws introduced into Papua New Guinea during the 90 years of British and then Australian colonial rule. During those decades, colonial officials built a legal system based on the English common law, English and Australian statutes, and locally enacted ordinances. However, the lack of resources and the fear of social disruption prevented officials from attempting to impose much ofthat legal system on the indigenous inhabitants of the two territories. This resulted in a system of legal pluralism that has continued since independence in 1975: the Anglo-Australian-based state legal system exists alongside customary law, which continues to govern most aspects of the lives Papua New Guineans. Since more than 75% of the country's population continues to live in small rural villages and earn their living from subsistence agriculture and fishing, there is little conflict between the two legal systems. However, that is not the case when dealing with wrongful acts and sanctioning wrongdoers.The conflict between Papua New Guinea's state system of criminal law and customary law has received international attention in recent years as the result of a series of murders of persons, mainly women, suspected of being sorcerers.1 In rural areas, the lack of education and access to modern medicine means that many people are unable to explain the causes of disease and death. Instead, they attribute them to the traditional practices of sorcery, for which the customary law sanction is death. Although leading Papua New Guinean political and religious figures have condemned the killings, the state has been able to do little or nothing to stop them or to punish those responsible, since the police usually are outnumbered by the crowds participating in, or watching, the killings. One step Papua New Guinea has taken in response to that criticism is to repeal its Sorcery Act in May 2013. The Act had been adopted in 1971 as part of pre-independence efforts to integrate customary law into the state legal system by recognising and criminalising the practice of sorcery and making the accusation of sorcery a defence in murder cases. However, as a result of the 2013 repeal, the traditional belief in sorcery and the customary response to it no longer are defences in state criminal prosecutions. Instead, killings of alleged sorcerers now are treated by the state as murder and are subject to the death penalty, which has also become the focus of international criticism since its reintroduction in 1991. However, those steps have not put an end to the extrajudicial killing of alleged sorcerers.In the light of the general law and order problem in Papua New Guinea, and the specific issue of the killing of alleged sorcerers, the proposals contained in Shaun Larcom's new book, Legal Dissonance: The Interaction of Criminal Law and Customary Law in Papua New Guinea, merit very serious consideration as part of the ongoing debate over how to handle the conflict between the country's legal pluralism and improve personal security. …

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Shaun Larcom，法律不和谐：巴布亚新几内亚刑法与习惯法的相互作用

法律不和谐：巴布亚新几内亚刑法与习惯法的相互作用，Shaun Larcom，纽约，Berghahn，2015 年，178 页，85 美元 (hbk)，ISBN：9781782386483巴布亚新几内亚独立国，与许多其他国家一样，与严重的法律和秩序问题作斗争。谋杀、抢劫、劫车、性虐待和家庭虐待只是使该国城市和农村地区有限的警察人员、财政和技术资源紧张的众多犯罪中的一小部分。检察官、公共检察官和法院也都人手不足和资金不足，它们通过适用《刑法》的规定处理被捕者。该法典以昆士兰刑法典为蓝本，是在 20 世纪初的殖民时代通过的。尽管巴布亚新几内亚的《刑法》在过去几十年中多次修订，但其规范和程序基本上仍是英国和澳大利亚起草者的规范和程序。《刑法》只是英国和澳大利亚 90 年间引入巴布亚新几内亚的法律之一。然后是澳大利亚殖民统治。在这几十年中，殖民官员建立了基于英国普通法、英国和澳大利亚法规以及当地颁布的法令的法律体系。然而，由于缺乏资源和对社会动荡的恐惧，官员们无法将大部分法律制度强加给这两个领土的土著居民。这导致了自 1975 年独立以来一直延续的法律多元化体系：以英澳为基础的国家法律体系与习惯法并存，它继续支配着巴布亚新几内亚人生活的大部分方面。由于该国 75% 以上的人口继续生活在农村小村庄，并以自给农业和渔业为生，因此这两种法律制度之间几乎没有冲突。然而，在处理不法行为和制裁不法行为者时，情况并非如此。近年来，巴布亚新几内亚国家刑法体系与习惯法之间的冲突受到国际关注，这是一系列谋杀人员的结果，主要是妇女，怀疑是巫师。1 在农村地区，缺乏教育和现代医学手段意味着许多人无法解释疾病和死亡的原因。相反，他们将它们归因于传统的巫术实践，习惯法对其处以死刑。尽管巴布亚新几内亚的主要政治和宗教人士谴责了杀戮事件，但国家在阻止他们或惩罚肇事者方面几乎无能为力，因为参与或观看杀戮的人群通常比警察多. 巴布亚新几内亚为回应这一批评而采取的一个步骤是于 2013 年 5 月废除其巫术法。该法于 1971 年通过，作为独立前努力的一部分，通过承认和定罪，将习惯法纳入国家法律体系。巫术的实践，并将巫术的指控作为谋杀案件的辩护。然而，由于 2013 年废除，传统的巫术信仰和对它的习惯反应不再是国家刑事诉讼的辩护理由。相反，杀害被指控的巫师现在被国家视为谋杀并处以死刑，自 1991 年重新引入以来，这也成为国际批评的焦点。 然而，这些步骤并没有结束法外处决鉴于巴布亚新几内亚的一般法律和秩序问题，以及杀害被指控的巫师的具体问题，Shaun Larcom 的新书《法律不协调：刑法与习惯法的相互作用》中包含的建议在巴布亚新几内亚，作为关于如何处理该国法律多元化和改善人身安全之间冲突的持续辩论的一部分，值得非常认真地考虑。… 自 1991 年重新引入以来，这也成为国际批评的焦点。 然而，这些步骤并没有结束对涉嫌巫师的法外处决。 鉴于巴布亚新几内亚的一般法律和秩序问题，以及具体的关于杀害涉嫌巫师的问题，Shaun Larcom 的新书《法律不协调：巴布亚新几内亚刑法与习惯法的相互作用》中包含的建议值得非常认真地考虑，作为正在进行的关于如何处理之间冲突的辩论的一部分。国家的法律多元化，提高人身安全。… 自 1991 年重新引入以来，这也成为国际批评的焦点。 然而，这些步骤并没有结束对涉嫌巫师的法外处决。 鉴于巴布亚新几内亚的一般法律和秩序问题，以及具体的关于杀害涉嫌巫师的问题，Shaun Larcom 的新书《法律不协调：巴布亚新几内亚刑法与习惯法的相互作用》中包含的建议值得非常认真地考虑，作为正在进行的关于如何处理之间冲突的辩论的一部分。国家的法律多元化，提高人身安全。… 鉴于巴布亚新几内亚的一般法律和秩序问题，以及杀害涉嫌巫师的具体问题，Shaun Larcom 的新书《法律不协调：巴布亚新几内亚刑法与习惯法的相互作用》中包含的建议，值得非常认真地考虑作为关于如何处理该国法律多元化和改善个人安全之间的冲突的持续辩论的一部分。… 鉴于巴布亚新几内亚的一般法律和秩序问题，以及杀害涉嫌巫师的具体问题，Shaun Larcom 的新书《法律不协调：巴布亚新几内亚刑法与习惯法的相互作用》中包含的建议，值得非常认真地考虑作为关于如何处理该国法律多元化和改善个人安全之间的冲突的持续辩论的一部分。…