Indigenous Peoples, Customary Law and Human Rights - Why Living Law Matters ─ Land, Resources and Traditional Knowledge

"This highly original work demonstrates the role and importance of customary law as the primary source of law for indigenous peoples all over the world. The book reviews the relationship between customary, positive and natural law from the time of Plato up to the present day. It examines its recognition in constitutional law and in international human rights and environmental instruments. The author analyses the role of customary law in tribal, national and international governance of indigenous peoples' lands, resources and cultural heritage. He explores the challenges and opportunities for its recognition by courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including issues of proof of law and conflicts between customary practices and human rights. It concludes that indigenous peoples' rights to their customary legal regimes and states' obligations to respect and recognise customary law, in order to secure their human rights, are principles of international customary law, and as such binding on all states. At a time when the land and resources of indigenous peoples are increasingly under threat, the book provides an accessible overview of the key issues for both legal and non-legal scholars, students of human rights and environmental justice, andindigenous peoples themselves"--

Brendan Tobin (Ashoka Fellow, Ashoka Innovators for the Public) a Research Fellow at the Law School, Griffith University, Australia, has over 20 years of experience working on environmental law and human rights around the world. He has previously been a lecturer at the National University of San Marcos, Peru, a researcher at the United Nations University, Japan. As a legal consultant he has worked for a range of clients including the World Intellectual Property Organization and Central University of Minorities in Beijing, China. He was the Coordinator and Founding Member of the Asociacion para la Defensa de los Derechos Naturales (Association for the Defence of Natural Rights) based in Peru and an NGO representative on the Peruvian national delegation to the Convention on Biological Diversity. He has a PhD from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, and practised as a barrister in Dublin, Ireland. He holds dual Irish and Peruvian citizenship.