Justice Martin Kriewaldt. Frontier Justice, Aboriginal People, Assimilation and Law in the 1950s

Abstract

Martin Chemnitz Kriewaldt was the sole Judge of the Northern Territory Supreme Court between 1951-1960. During his time on the bench he presided over 39 murder cases when most judges of the time would expect to hear no more than 10. This period saw many important, colourful and controversial characters appear before him, including Olive Pink, Ted Egan, Tiger Lyons and Albert Namatjira. Kriewaldt’s work broke new ground in legal thinking on Indigenous criminal issues. Many of his cases involved questions of customary law.