ABSTRACT
As an example of a specialized or treatment court, Chugh and McElroy underscore the development of Indigenous Peoples’ Courts (or Gladue Courts), their strengths and weaknesses, and how they represent a culturally appropriate process for Indigenous persons. By providing a brief history of their development, in this commentary the authors demonstrate not only how they emerged, but also the keys to their success through a case management approach to achieving healing and care for an accused, rather than a punitive approach. As part of the field of indigenous therapeutic jurisprudence, Indigenous Peoples’ Courts focus on problem solving through restorative justice, on providing full meaning and effect to the principles of Gladue. The authors use examples of how these courts function from their own experiences in Eastern Ontario and demonstrate that while there is no national template on how such courts should operate, they provide an important grassroots, community-based, healing approach to address the needs of Indigenous people before the criminal justice system.
