Title 25, IndiansRelease 119-102
§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
Summary
Protects tribal governments' control over their own justice systems. The chapter cannot be used to reduce a tribe’s power to run its courts, make and enforce tribal laws, hire or appoint staff, choose its legal structure or officials, or keep traditional ways to settle disputes. It also does not make tribal courts part of the United States or lessen the U.S. trust responsibility to tribes and their justice systems.
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
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102