How Canadian Criminal Law is Unsustainable in Inuit Lands

In this paper, we contribute to the limited research focus on sustainable social development among the Inuit with emphasis on one foci of social sustainability – sustainable justice. We demonstrate that the Canadian criminal law is unsustainable in Inuit lands. Drawing our analysis from the ongoing Canadian-Indigenous colonization process, we argue that historical Canadian ambitions related to sovereignty resulted in the erasure of long-standing Inuit law. Inuit law was complex, and it effectively regulated behaviour and sustained Inuit society. Despite its effectiveness, Inuit law was unwritten and therefore invisible to colonial states. Inuit law, mores, and norms, essential to Inuit culture, were replaced by alien and inappropriate laws. Consequently, Inuit are subordinate to a criminal justice system that reflects different values and practices, some of which are in direct contradiction to Inuit values and practices. Today Inuit experience high rates of incarceration, rooted in the cultural, social, and political dislocation caused by colonialism. This paper urges attention to sustainable justice for Inuit, a marginalized Indigenous people. Returned responsibility is key to a sustainable justice system for Inuit; the (re)development of law and its enforcement must be shaped by Inuit. Keywords Colonization Criminal justice Inuit Sustainability