R v Bonjon

rdf:langString R v Bonjon

rdf:langString R v Bonjon

rdf:langString R v Bonjon

rdf:langString Willis J

rdf:langString R v Bonjon was a criminal court case, decided in the Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip on 16 September 1841, in which Bonjon, an Aboriginal man, had been charged with murder for killing Yammowing, another Aboriginal man. The main issue in the case was whether the colonial courts had jurisdiction over offences committed by Aboriginal people inter se, that is, by one Aboriginal person against another. Judge Willis extensively considered the legal situation as to the British acquisition of sovereignty over Australia, and its consequences for the Aboriginal people. Though not finally deciding the question, he indicated that he strongly doubted that he had jurisdiction. The trial of Bonjon was allowed to proceed without prejudice as to the question of jurisdiction, but the prosecution ultimately abandoned the case and Bonjon was eventually discharged. The case, long forgotten after it was decided, has more recently been recognised for the significance of its reasoning; several commentators have compared it to the famous 1992 Mabo case, though "reached 150 years earlier by an irascible judge in the bush town of Melbourne."

rdf:langString * the acquisition of British sovereignty over Australia was by settlement, not by conquest or cession * the Aboriginal people are not British subjects, but are "distinct, though dependent tribes governed among themselves by their own rude laws and customs" * the jurisdiction of the court over crimes committed by Aboriginal people inter se is strongly doubted * final decisions on these matters are reserved