2008 Tribal Courts Assistance Program

The National Tribal Judicial Center (NTJC) at The National Judicial College will promote goals based on enhancing educational offerings to tribal court judges and personnel, improving justice in Indian Country, and increasing understanding and respect between Tribal courts and U.S. courts. Through this program, NTJC will provide sustained support to all Tribal Courts Assistance Program (TCAP) grantees in the pursuit of improved tribal justice systems.

NTJC will: support the development of resources that will assist tribes in choosing the right tribal justice models for their individual needs; encourage and facilitate efforts that educate federal, state, and local policy-makers in understanding that diverse cultures, customs and traditions require individualized approaches; disseminate innovative ideas, promising practices, and success stories; sponsor management training for tribal court judges and other justice officials; continue to support tribal initiatives for developing tribal laws and justice systems which honor tribal customs, traditions, and values; encourage the development of legal institutes where non-lawyer tribal judges and non-lawyer tribal advocates can be educated in a comprehensive program; support states and tribes in conducting recurring local and regional conferences to facilitate communication, information sharing, and cooperation in resolving jurisdictional disputes; and, hold tribal-state relations forums for tribes and states to develop action plans to initiate formal government-to-government relations and draft agreements enabling tribes to establish local control.

NCA/NCF