ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the current situation and identifies the various issues raised by the reception of indigenous legal systems, including in terms of culture and individual rights. It introduces the concept of legal pluralism, providing several examples of its application to indigenous law. The chapter analyses the main aspects in which the indigenous conception of law differs from the Western conception. The adoption of a pluralist perspective on law usually leads one to consider legal systems that more or less depart from the Western conception of law that underpins civilist and common law traditions. The issue examined in the chapter revolves around the concept of 'multijuralism', which designates the different modes of interaction between public or private legal systems. For the purpose, the chapter prefers to use the well-known concept of legal pluralism to analyse the interaction between Canadian law and indigenous legal systems.