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''R v Bonjon'' was a criminal court case, decided in the Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip on 16 September 1841, in which Bonjon, an Aboriginal man, had been charged with murder for killing Yammowing, another Aboriginal man. The main issue in the case was whether the colonial courts had jurisdiction over offences committed by Aboriginal people ''inter se'', that is, by one Aboriginal person against another. Judge Willis extensively considered the legal situation as to the British acquisition of sovereignty over Australia, and its consequences for the Aboriginal people. Though not finally deciding the question, he indicated that he strongly doubted that he had jurisdiction. The trial of Bonjon was allowed to proceed without prejudice as to the question of jurisdiction, but the prosecution ultimately abandoned the case and Bonjon was eventually discharged. The case, long forgotten after it was decided, has more recently been recognised for the significance of its reasoning; several commentators have compared it to the famous 1992 Mabo case, though "reached 150 years earlier by an irascible judge in the bush town of Melbourne."〔 〕 ==Background to the case== The defendant Bonjon (or, alternately, "Bon Jon") was an Aboriginal man of the Wathaurong people.〔Reports of the case give the name of Bonjon's people as "Wadora", an alternative spelling of an alternate name for the Wathaurong. See 〕〔; see 〕 According to the Wesleyan missionary Francis Tuckfield, one of the witnesses in the case, Bonjon had been in contact with Europeans more than any other member of the Wathaurong, having even been a volunteer member of the Native Police for some time.〔 According to police magistrate Foster Fyans, Bonjon was with the Native Police for seven months, tracking runaway horses and generally assisting the other members.〔 The victim Yammowing was of the Gulidjan people, whose territory bordered that of the Wathaurong.〔Reports of the case give the name of Yammowing's people as "Colijon", an alternative name for the Gulidjan.〕 Tuckfield knew Yammowing well, as he had lived among the Gulidjan from time to time while working at the Buntingdale mission station near Birregurra.〔〔 〕 The prosecution alleged that on or about 14 July 1841, Bonjon shot Yammowing in the head with a carbine at Geelong, killing him.〔〔 At the time, the area was part of the Port Phillip District within the colony of New South Wales, and so the case fell within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of New South Wales for the District of Port Phillip. The case was heard before Judge Willis, the Resident Judge, in Melbourne on 16 September 1841. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「R v Bonjon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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