Resolving the indigenous family disputes in Taiwan: Taking the family mediation as an example

Resolving the indigenous family disputes in Taiwan: Taking the family mediation as an example

This article examines the socio-legal status of indigenous peoples in family disputes in order to protect their judicial rights. According to the discourse of legal pluralism and the concept of the“semi-autonomous social field”, participant observation of indigenous family mediation was accomplished in the Nantou District Court in Taiwan.
Indigenous family mediation is carried out within a matrix of state law, domestic laws, and indigenous customary rules. This paper suggests that these processes are affected by the inequalities among different members of the household, as well as the life experiences of indigenous Taiwanese who live within an unequal power environment imposed by the Han Taiwanese majority. Moreover, if one of the disputing parties asserted that a particular customary law should be followed, the district court would encourage the other party to respect it. Consequently, the indigenous customary law, instead of the state law, would be regarded as the basis of dispute resolution.