Beyond the Preamble: Legislating the right to self-determination in a NSW Human Rights Act

Abstract

This article examines the inclusion of the right to self-determination in existing models of state and territory human rights legislation and proposes its inclusion in a future human rights act in New South Wales (NSW), to advance the rights of First Peoples in the criminal justice system. I explore how this would provide a mechanism for state restraint and a legal framework for prioritising self-determined First Nations critique, research and service delivery in carceral systems. The role of courts in holding the state to account and developing legal pluralism in rights jurisprudence is also discussed.