INDIGENOUS PEOPLES CUSTOMARY LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

WHY LIVING LAW MATTERS

“...An invaluable resource for all those wishing to understand the role of customary law as a fundamental basis for realising indigenous peoples’ human rights and selfdetermination.”

— Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

This highly original work demonstrates the fundamental role of customary law for the realization of Indigenous peoples’ human rights and for sound national and international legal governance. The book reviews the legal status of customary law and its relationship with positive and natural law from the time of Plato up to the present. It examines its growing recognition in constitutional and international law and its dependence on, and at times strained relationship with, human rights law.

The author analyzes the role of customary law in tribal, national and international governance of Indigenous peoples’ lands, resources and cultural heritage. He throws light on the rich legal diversity and underlying principles of customary law that are at the heart of advances in intercultural justice.

At a time when the self-determination, land, resources and cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples are increasingly under threat, this accessible book presents the key issues for both legal and non-legal scholars, practitioners, students of human rights and environmental justice, and Indigenous peoples themselves.