1,721,004 research outputs found
Indigenous Peoples and Litigation:Strategies for Legal Empowerment
Full text linkAcross the globe indigenous peoples are increasingly using litigation to seek remedies for violation of their fundamental human rights. The rise of litigation is to be placed in the larger issue of increased land grabbing, natural resources exploitation and the general lack of recognition of their rights at the national level. This lack of legal rights is usually coupled with a lack of political will to address the issues faced by indigenous peoples, often leading to serious human rights violations, leaving indigenous advocates with few options but to turn to courts as a last resort to seek remedies. This article examines some of the issues faced by indigenous peoples and their advocates when engaging in human rights litigation. The goal is to offer a practice-based reflection on the encounter between courts and indigenous peoples with a specific focus on analysing strategies to ensure their legal empowerment. This is particularly important knowing the technicality, externalities and complexities of the process of litigation, and the fact that many decisions do not get implemented. In this context this article explores how the process of litigation in itself can support legal empowerment and the wider fight for justice. © 2020, The Author(s). The attached document (embargoed until 10/10/2022) is an author produced version of a paper published in JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICE uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it.<br/
Creating synergies between international law and the rights of nature
No full textAgainst the backdrop of failing environmental governance, rights of nature (RoN) are increasingly lauded as the paradigm shift needed to transform law’s approach to nature. RoN have been increasingly proclaimed domestically but remain mostly absent from international law. As examined in this article, this is notably due to some profound incompatibilities between international law and RoN, including the fact that most international treaties approach nature as resource to be owned, exploited or protected for the sake of humans. However, despite this dominant approach to nature, some areas of international law, notably under the leadership of Indigenous peoples, are starting to acknowledge a more relational approach to nature, putting forward concepts of care, kinship and representation of nature in international law. Building on these developments, this article offers a reflection on potential synergies between RoN and international law, specifically by changing the latter’s approach to nature. It argues that some of the RoN concepts concerning duty of care, institutional representation of nature’s voice, and ecocentricism could serve as a platform to re-interpret some of the anthropocentric principles of international law, creating some potential synergies between RoN and international law. <br/
Human rights and the rights of nature: friends or foes?
No full textThis article explores the connections between human rights and the rights of nature. Rights of nature are emerging as a global movement to re-think and move away from dominant anthropocentric approaches to law. As it is based on the idea that nature has inherent rights, rights of nature are often labelled to be the “human rights of nature”. However, this association with human rights, which are by nature is anthropocentric, is also paradoxical. This article argues that despite the anthropocentric nature of human rights, there could some strong alignments notably on issues concerning the universalism, interdependence, and indivisibility of rights. One interest in linking two movements is that human rights law is enriched by few centuries of legal developments, a diverse jurisprudence, and abundant campaigning and advocacy tools. With rights of nature being much ‘younger’ there might be lessons to be learned from the ‘older’ human rights movement. The argument put forward is that despite some potential clashes between human rights and the rights of nature, there are some legal principles that have been developed under international human rights law that could serve to alleviate these clashes, as well as to serve as a catalyst to support future rights of nature advocacy.<br/
The nexus between “human rights” and the “rights of nature”. Debates, tensions and complementarities
No full textNomadic peoples and human rights
No full textAlthough nomadic peoples are scattered worldwide and have highly heterogeneous lifestyles, they face similar threats to their mobile livelihood and survival. Commonly, nomadic peoples are facing pressure from the predominant sedentary world over mobility, land rights, water resources, access to natural resources, and migration routes. Adding to these traditional problems, rapid growth in the extractive industry and the need for the exploitation of the natural resources are putting new strains on nomadic lifestyles
Indigenous peoples' land rights under international law: from victims to actors
No full textThis book addresses the right of indigenous peoples to live, own and use their traditional territories. A profound relationship with land and territories characterizes indigenous groups, but indigenous peoples have been and are repeatedly deprived of their lands. This book analyzes whether the international legal regime provides indigenous peoples with the collective right to live on their traditional territories
International law and nomadic peoples: between silence and victimization
No full textThis article analyses developments in international law relating to the rights of mobile and nomadic peoples. It begins by presenting a detailed overview of the legal situation of these communities, highlighting the urgent need for international engagement that is adapted to their realities. The article then offers a critical analysis of the response of international law to the violations suffered by these groups, highlighting the limitations of an approach focused exclusively on the rights of mobile indigenous peoples. The 2024 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, which focuses on mobility, is a notable exception in international law. As a general rule, nomadic peoples remain largely invisible in this legal system, which tends either to ignore them or to marginalize them by favoring norms that promote sedentary lifestyles
Can the French Law of Vigilance apply to the extraterritorial violations of human rights?
No full textBuilding on the civil lawsuit filed in France against the French energy giant EDF whose Wind Park project is reported to violate rights of a Mexican indigenous community, this article explores interactions between human rights due diligence in renewable energies projects and indigenous rights. The article unpacks the potential extraterritorial reach contained by the French duty of vigilance law by providing a preliminary overview of how initial implementation of the law before French courts have realised this potential. More specifically the authors examine to what extent the law has been able to offer a platform to challenge decisions made by multinational corporations from those affected, and how the complex extraterritorial reach of the law have been approached in practice by the French tribunals. After having reviewed the main mechanisms of the law, the authors analyse some of the first cases that have been brought under it. The chapter then focuses the specific case study concerning indigenous peoples’ claims against the French multinational EDF. The authors provide reflections on whether French courts may, or not, examine claims based on both international and foreign norms, in particular indigenous peoples’ rights, which are otherwise not recognised and rejected by the French legal system. <br/
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