IPP: Policies and Laws

This section contains a review of state policies and legal instruments that address the land tenure security and access rights of indigenous peoples and pastoralists.

Africa

Mauritania Pastoral Code/ Portant Code Pastoral en Mauritanie Loi No. 2000-044
26 July 2000
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Cette loi assure la préservation et la promotion du pastoralisme dans le cadre d’une évolution harmonieuse du développement rural. Les ressources pastorales appartiennent à la Nation.

Asia

Philippines Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997
Republic Act No. 8371
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An act recognizing and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples to title their lands as inalienable communal property.

India 2006 Forest Rights Act:
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Provides rights for tribes and other traditional forest-dwelling communities to forest land including more decision-making power over natural resource management.

Malaysian Federal Constitution 1957
Ninth Schedule, List 1, § 16 and List 1, § 8(5)(c)
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The legislation provides for the protection of aboriginal peoples including the reservation of land.

Latin America

Republica de Colombia, Constitución de 1991 con reformas hasta 2005
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Colombia/col91.html
Recognizes customary legal systems and traditional authorities as legitimate public entities for autonomous land administration. Recognizes the right to self-government and recognizes the importance of economic and cultural integrity. Contains a provision for the recognition of indigenous lands. See Articles 33, 66, 171-176.
Reconoce derechos consuetudinarios y autoridades tradicionales como legítimas entidades publicas para administración de tierra autónoma.

Republica de Ecuador, Constitución Política de 1998
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Ecuador/ecuador98.html
Recognizes customary legal systems and traditional authorities as legitimate public entities for autonomous land administration.
Reconoce derechos consuetudinarios y autoridades tradicionales como legítimas entidades publicas para administración de tierra autónoma.

Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, 1988 with reforms through 1996. See Article 231
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Brazil/brtitle1.html
Protections for indigenous people including possessory rights.
Protecciones para la gente indígena incluyendo los derechos propiedades.

Peru Ley No. 24656
Ley General de Comunidades Campesinas, 1987
http://www.allpa.org.pe/legislacion_ley24656.shtml
This law defines the rights and duties of pastoralists, their internal organizations, communal territory, communal lands, and community business activities.
Esta ley define los derechos y deberes de los comuneros, de su organización interna, del territorio comunal, del patrimonio comunal, y la actividad empresarial de las comunidades.

Peru Ley No. 26505
http://www.allpa.org.pe/legislacion_ley26505.shtml
This law notes the maximum rights to agricultural properties and permits the disposition of communal lands vis-à-vis articles 10 and 11.
Ley de la Inversión Privada en el Desarrollo de las Actividades Económicas en las Tierras del Territorio Nacional Y de las Comunidades Campesinas y Nativas, 1995 Esta ley dota el máximo de seguridades a los propietarios agrícolas y permite en sus artículos 10 y 11 la disposición de las tierras comunales.

Constitución de 1999, Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela
Titulo III, Capitulo VIII, Art. 119: De los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas
http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Venezuela/ven1999.html
La Constitución de Venezuela reconoce la existencia de los indígenas y protege sus tierras ancestrales que son necesarias para el desarrollo.
Venezuela ’s Constitution recognizes the existence of indigenous peoples and protects their ancestral lands which are necessary for their development. Decreta de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela: Ley de Demarcación y Garantía del Hábitat y Tierras de los Pueblos Indígenas
http://www.mijuicio.com…
Esta ley facilita la ejecución de las políticas y planes relativos a la demarcación del hábitat y tierras de los pueblos y comunidades indígenas para garantizar los derechos a sus tierras consagrados en la Constitución. This law facilitates the execution of policies and plans related to the demarcation of indigenous communal lands and territories in order to guarantee them the rights to lands consecrated in the Venezuelan Constitution.

Bolivia National Law 3760, 2007
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Bolivia adopts the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as national law.

Political Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1917, Chapter 1, Article 27, Section VII
http://www.ilstu.edu/class/hist263/docs/1917const.html
The law recognizes indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights and protects the integrity of indigenous peoples’ lands. The article also provides protections for collective uses of land.