ABSTRACT
The criminal-justice system should take a look at what is being done by some Aboriginal communities to successfully combat crime, says a senior judge of Manitoba's Provincial Court. An Ojibway, Judge Sinclair was cochairman of the Manitoba Aboriginal Justice inquiry that recommended in 1991 that a separate justice system should be established for First Nations peoples. The Canadian justice system is becoming more remote from the communities it serves, he said. It is run increasingly by professionals, such as police officers, lawyers and judges and the general public no longer feels it has any meaningful part in the process. In the Hollow Water program, sexual offenders who plead guilty are no longer routinely jailed but are placed on three years probation.
