Title 25 — IndiansRelease 119-73not60

§3665 Tribal Authority

Title 25 › Chapter 38A— INDIAN TRIBAL JUSTICE TECHNICAL AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE › Subchapter I— TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS › § 3665

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Protects tribal governments' control over their own justice systems and related powers. It must not be read to reduce tribal sovereignty or these six things: the tribe's choice about the role of its courts and making or enforcing tribal laws; appointing staff; deciding its legal system and who appoints officials; keeping traditional dispute processes; treating tribal courts as part of the U.S. government; or weakening the United States' trust duty to tribes.

Full Legal Text

Title 25, §3665

Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to—

(1)encroach upon or diminish in any way the inherent sovereign authority of each tribal government to determine the role of the tribal justice system within the tribal government or to enact and enforce tribal laws;

(2)diminish in any way the authority of tribal governments to appoint personnel;

(3)impair the rights of each tribal government to determine the nature of its own legal system or the appointment of authority within the tribal government;

(4)alter in any way any tribal traditional dispute resolution fora;

(5)imply that any tribal justice system is an instrumentality of the United States; or

(6)diminish the trust responsibility of the United States to Indian tribal governments and tribal justice systems of such governments.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

25 U.S.C. § 3665

Title 25 — Indians

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60