This book draws on concrete cases of collaboration between anthropologists and legal practitioners to critically assess the use of anthropological expertise in a variety of legal contexts from the point of view of the anthropologist as well as of the decision maker or legal practitioner.

Marie-Claire Foblets is Director of the Department of Law & Anthropology at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany and Honorary Professor at the universities of Leuven (Belgium), Halle (Germany), and Leipzig (Germany).

Maria Sapignoli is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Milan (Italy) and Cooperation Partner in the Law & Anthropology Department, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany.

Brian Donahoe is Senior Scientific Editor of the Law & Anthropology Department, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany.

Preface and Acknowledgements vii

Contributors ix

Legal Practitioners and Anthropologists in Dialogue: Returning to the Spirit of Complementarity and Collaboration 1

BRIAN DONAHOE, MARIE-CLAIRE FOBLETS, AND MARIA SAPIGNOLI

PART I

Anthropologists and Lawyers in Conversation: Case Studies 21

1 Collection and Use of Country of Origin Information in the United Kingdom's Refugee Status Determination Process: The Case of Sri Lanka 23

ANTHONY PATERSON AND ANTHONY GOOD

2 Depositions and Dilemmas: Anthropological Collaboration with Lawyers on Indigenous Legal Cases in Botswana 50

GORDON BENNETT AND ROBERT K HITCHCOCK

3 Using and Refusing Indigenous Rights Law in Southern Chile 75

CHARLES HALE AND JOSE AYLWIN

4 Evolving Roles of the Cultural Expert: Anthrolegal Praxis, Friction, and the Pursuit of Justice in the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal Proceedings 91

BARBARA ROSE JOHNSTON

PART II

Reflections on the Use of Expertise 121

5 Contributions of Ethnography of Science to Judicial Assessment of Environmental Expert Testimony: Case Study from Risk Assessment in the Marine Environment 123

MELANIE WIBER, DONNA CURTIS MAILLET, AND ALLAIN BARNETT

6 The Predicament of Expertise in the Revival of Indigenous Legal Traditions 136

RONALD NIEZEN

7 Observations from Working as a Legal Anthropologist in the Customary Law Ascertainment Project of Namibia 143

MANFRED HINZ

8 Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Asylum Cases: Impressions from Legal-Anthropological Collaboration 153

KATIA BIANCHINI AND SOPHIE ANDREETTA

9 The Ignorance of an Expert Witness 164

ANNIKA RABO

10 Reflections on Anthropological 'Expert' Reports in UK Legal Asylum Cases 177

DEEMA KANEFF

11 Culture as a 'Matter of Fact'?: Reflections on a First-time 'Cultural Defence' in Court 190

HARIKA DAUTH

12 Beyond Case-by-Case Cultural Expertise 207

ILENIA RUGGIU

Index 217