International Law

Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights: International and Regional Jurisprudence

Edited by Thalia Anthony · Larissa Behrendt · Ben Saul
Hart Publishing June 2016

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781901362404
Publisher
Hart Publishing
Publication
June 2016
Format
Paperback , 348 pages
Jurisdiction
International ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the treatment of Indigenous peoples in international law and from a comparative law perspective. While it is scholarly in approach, it is also intended to be used as a textbook for university students, and therefore covers a broad range of topics relevant to the study of Indigenous People and International Law. 

The book first considers the theory and practice of international law in encounters between Indigenous peoples and European colonial powers. It examines the prevailing legal doctrines governing acquisition of title to territory (including terra nullius, discovery, occupation, conquest and treaties), underlying concepts of sovereignty, authority and self-determination, and competing theoretical approaches to conceptualising Indigenous legal interests. The book then investigates how domestic legal systems applied, ignored or challenged relevant international law norms during the colonial era and explores the dominant legal discourses operating at the national level. 

The book goes on to consider how international law has progressively developed to enable Indigenous peoples to challenge their treatment in national legal systems, particularly through the human rights machinery and political organs of the UN. It looks at how, after the independence of settler societies, national legal systems - often using international law tools - were used (or challenged) by Indigenous peoples seeking reparation for historical injustices. The promise and limitations of international and national legal strategies of redress are evaluated in light of social and political approaches to redress. 

The book draws on the colonial and post-colonial experiences of Indigenous peoples across Australasia, America and Canada, Africa, the Middle East and Europe in a comparative framework. It looks particularly to the unique and common aspects of their claims and responses by governments and regional and international bodies. The book frames its discussion of the law in practice with a theoretical account of Indigenous claims, rights and remedies and the relationship between legal and political processes of dispute resolution. The book also points to unresolved issues in international and comparative law and charts possible future directions in law and practice.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights: Institutions and Influences
UN Treaty Committee Jurisprudence
Regional Jurisprudence
Background Influences on International and Regional Jurisprudence

1. Identifying 'Indigenous' Peoples in International Law
International Labour Organization Approaches
United Nations Approaches
Regional Approaches
Conclusion

2. The United Nations Human Rights Committee and Indigenous Peoples Right to Self-Determination (ICCPR, Article 1)
Right to Take Part in Cultural Life (ICCPR, Article 27)
Other Civil and Political Rights
Conclusion

3. Other UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies and Indigenous Peoples
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
UN Committee Against Torture
Conclusion

4. Regional Human Rights Systems: Indigenous Property Rights in Land and Natural Resources
Indigenous Rights in Property: Land and Natural Resources
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
African System: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Conclusion

5. Regional Human Rights Systems: Indigenous Cultural, Socio-economic and Physical Integrity Rights
Cultural Rights in Regional Jurisprudence
Socio-economic Rights
Violence and Excessive Law Enforcement Against Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Peoples in the European Human Rights Systems
Conclusion
Conclusion: Future Normative and Implementation Challenges

About the Author

Thalia Anthony is a Senior Lecturer in Law at University of Technology, Sydney. Larissa Behrendt is the Professor of Law and Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney. Ben Saul is Professor of International Law and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at The University of Sydney, and author of Defining Terrorism in International Law (2006).

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