Douglas Sanderson on Commercial Law and Indigenous Sovereignty

Douglas Sanderson has posted “Commercial Law and Indigenous Sovereignty” on SSRN.

Here is the abstract:

Despite the ubiquitous nature of commercial law, discussions about Indigenous sovereignty tend to focus on the big picture themes of lands, resources and economic development without any real thought about the commercial law framework within which these transactions will take place. In this paper, I argue that commercial law is a crucial, though overlooked, aspect of Indigenous sovereignty. I propose that through the development and implementation of a commercial Code and Tribunal, Indigenous communities stand to capture greater economic efficiencies, promote political independence, and advance down a path towards developing institutions that are both modern and based in traditional knowledge bases and dispute resolution mechanisms.