In this book an effort is made to explore how the state and non-state legal systems are interrelated in popular perception and practice. Do the people prefer to settle their disputes within the legal framework initiated by the state or outside it? And why? An effort is also made to discuss all the modes and methods, patterns and processes, based on customary, religious and community traditions, practiced in the process of dispute settlement. The study is quite significant in that it introduces a double hermeneutic paradigm for plural legal systems: the formal and the informal. It will also help the legal administrators to develop a proper realignment between the informal and formal systems of law and justice.
In this book?
Introduction
Research Methodology
Migration of Sikhs to the USA
Disputes and Disputants
Modes of Dispute Resolution
Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations and Implications
Appendix: A special chapter on ?The Future of the American Criminal Justice System?