Larcom, ST;
(2012)
A law and economic analysis of legal pluralism in Papua New Guinea.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
Abstract
This thesis looks at how Papua New Guinea‟s two most prominent legal orders; customary law and state law sanction wrongs. The mode of analysis is primarily economic while also acknowledging the reality of deep legal pluralism. In a society subject to a legal transplant such as Papua New Guinea there will be wrongs under customary law and wrongs under state law. Some of these wrongs will be common to both legal orders, common wrongs, and some will be unique to each legal order, idiosyncratic wrongs. Sanctions used to correct these wrongs will either be wrongs under the other legal order or not. The thesis analyses the interactions of the two legal orders using this typology. The empirical element provides an overview of the level of wrongdoing in the New Guinea Islands; how the two legal orders sanction wrongs; differing conceptions of wrongs; the degree that the legal orders are seen as substitutes; the degree to which the legal orders support or undermine each other; and the effect their interaction may have on the deterrence against wrongs. It is argued that in relation to grave common wrongs the sanctions of the two legal orders are broadly substitutable. However, the state does not generally see them as so and in recent times the courts have shown an increasingly intolerant stance toward customary law sanctions. It is argued that the state‟s effort to use the criminal law as a tool for social change has failed and has contributed to a lack of personal security in many parts of Papua New Guinea. In light of previously failed reforms, and based on the empirical research, it is argued that greater recognition of customary law through the prosecution process should ameliorate many of the most problematic interactions between the legal orders in the control of wrongs.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | A law and economic analysis of legal pluralism in Papua New Guinea |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Authorisation for digitisation not received |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Laws |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1355957 |
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