In 2014, the provincial government unveiled a new courthouse in Thunder Bay, Ontario, featuring a conference area designed to emulate an Anishinaabe roundhouse. The “Aboriginal Conference Settlement Suite” epitomizes efforts to support Indigenous justice within the criminal justice system. However, despite similar efforts in the past, the circumstances of Indigenous peoples in Canada have not improved. This ongoing commitment to legal solutions is emblematic of mainstream views of law as a problem-solving instrument. Notwithstanding awareness of its failings, law reformers remain dedicated to using law as a tool for social change. Employing a case study method focusing on the new courthouse, I challenge a prevailing wisdom that law reform outputs are manageable and in our control. I argue that similar to a courthouse, which is a concrete, physical structure as well as a symbol of justice, so too is the legal instrument both material and metaphorical, with concrete outcomes and symbolic forms. While treating law as a literal tool may give law reformers a longed-for sense of mastery, this approach belies law’s diffuse constitutive power and the various paradoxes in reformers’ actions. Accepting law’s dual nature is essential for candid and accurate assessments about the possibilities and limits of change through law.

中文翻译：

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建立原住民会议解决套件：法律中的希望和现实主义作为社会变革的工具

2014 年，省政府在安大略省桑德贝市揭幕了一座新的法院大楼，其中设有一个会议区，旨在模仿 Anishinaabe 圆屋。“原住民会议和解套件”集中体现了在刑事司法系统内支持土著司法的努力。然而，尽管过去做出了类似的努力，加拿大原住民的情况并没有得到改善。这种对法律解决方案的持续承诺体现了将法律视为解决问题工具的主流观点。尽管意识到其失败，法律改革者仍然致力于将法律用作社会变革的工具。采用以新法院为重点的案例研究方法，我挑战了一种普遍的看法，即法律改革的成果是可控的，并且在我们的控制之下。我认为类似于法院，这是一个混凝土，作为物理结构和正义的象征，法律文书既是物质的又是隐喻的，具有具体的结果和象征形式。虽然将法律视为一种文字工具可能会给法律改革者一种渴望的掌控感，但这种方法掩盖了法律分散的构成权力和改革者行动中的各种悖论。接受法律的双重性质对于对通过法律进行变革的可能性和限制进行坦率和准确的评估至关重要。