The Legal Aid Foundation yesterday announced a new Aboriginal legal aid center amid questions over whether new Council of Indigenous Peoples’ legal interpretations would shield Aboriginal hunters from prosecution.
Issued in coordination with government agencies, the new Forestry Act (森林法), Fisheries Act (漁業法) and Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保護法) interpretations issued last month allow Aborigines to hunt, gather and fish on public land for self-use, following controversial prosecutions of Aborigines engaging in traditional hunting practices.
“Following the new interpretations, if there are not lawyers available to help defend Aborigines, we would still be likely to run into many problems,” said Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod, who is an Amis.
The council is to provide funding for five lawyers and five legal staff to be based at a new center in Hualien County.
Legal Aid Foundation chairman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that while the new interpretation made sense given the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法), the main problem was that it was only for “reference” and lacking the legal force to bind prosecutors and judges.
“Without this interpretation, other laws could conflict with the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act, but the issue is whether courts and prosecutors will accept it, because they are the ones who are actually handling cases,” he said, adding that the interpretation was likely adopted due to the difficulty of formal legal amendments.
The foundation is to primarily function as a “lubricant” to get Aborigines the best deal possible under the current legal system, he said.
“I will never forget when local police decided that our annual New Year’s ‘sacrifice celebrations’ would be a good time to bolster their performance statistics,” said Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩), who is a Puyuma.
“Celebrations were disrupted after Aborigines on a traditional hunt were ambushed and arrested by police,” she said.
She called for the center to devote more resources to Taitung County cases, while also cultivating Aboriginal legal talent.
DPP Legislator Kolas Kotaka called for the eventual appointment of an Aboriginal director.
“It is extremely difficult for us to find Aboriginal lawyers because there are so few who are licensed — but we are still working toward that objective,” Lo said.
A Legal Aid Foundation employee said that the establishment of the center had been delayed for months because of Aboriginal legislators’ demands that only Aboriginal lawyers be hired, with the position of center director eventually eliminated because of a lack of suitable candidates.
While individual Legal Aid Foundation lawyers have taken Aborigines’ cases in the past, the center’s resources and personnel would be able to tackle more complex issues, such land rights in Aboriginal villages, said Association for Taiwan Indigenous People’s Policy executive director Yapasuyongu Akuyana, who is a Tsou, adding that government ownership of land and county-level zoning often stifle legal construction.
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