A/HRC/57/62
E.
Measures taken to interpret and implement international, regional and
national jurisprudence and judicial decisions
54.
At the regional level, between 2007 and 2023, the Caribbean Court of Justice has
issued one judgment and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued a total of
15 judgments applying the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The judgments address issues such as collective rights, the right to land and territory, prior
consultation, cultural identity, participation, media and access to justice, among other
Indigenous Peoples’ rights recognized in the Declaration. The Declaration is already part of
the body of law of inter-American and Caribbean jurisprudence on Indigenous matters. The
increasing application of the Declaration demonstrates that it is considered a relevant legal
norm for the interpretation and adjudication of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the
region.70
55.
In Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador, concerning damage caused by
a company contracted by the State to conduct seismic exploration on Sarayaku lands, the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights found numerous violations of the American
Convention on Human Rights. In its deliberations, the Court included reference to article 38
of the Declaration. 71 Nevertheless, despite that judgment and the observations and
recommendations of United Nations human rights bodies, the necessary steps have not yet
been taken to ensure the collective right of Indigenous Peoples to free, prior and informed
consent that is enshrined in the Constitution of Ecuador.72 In its 2023 ruling in the case of
Maya Q’eqchi’ Indigenous community of Agua Caliente v. Guatemala, the Inter-American
Court found that the State had violated the rights of Indigenous Peoples by permitting a nickel
mine on their land.73
56.
Since 2017, when the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ordered Kenya to
take all necessary measures within a reasonable time period to address the violations found
in the case of the Ogiek people, the Government of Kenya has formed a working group to
review the implementation of the judgment, but it did not include any representatives of the
Ogiek in the group or consult the Ogiek on its work. In 2022, the African Court ordered the
Government to return ancestral lands to the Ogiek people. It appears that execution of the
court decision by the State remains outstanding and uncertain. 74
57.
Several national courts, including those of Belize, Botswana, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand and the Russian Federation, have cited
the Declaration in their decisions on cases involving Indigenous Peoples or have issued
rulings aligned with the provisions of the Declaration.75
58.
Between 2007 and 2023, 791 judgments from constitutional courts and supreme
courts in Latin America applied the Declaration. Up to November 2023, the States with the
most judgments were Mexico, with 165 judgments addressing the rights to land, justice,
consultation and education, Colombia, with 150 judgments on land, consultation, autonomy
and justice, and the Plurinational State of Bolivia, with 145 judgments regarding justice,
autonomy, consultation and land. The 791 judgments demonstrate that the constitutional
courts and supreme courts in the region are applying the Declaration in the adjudication of
rights in favour of Indigenous Peoples. States such as Mexico, Colombia and the
Plurinational State of Bolivia lead this jurisprudential trend of applying the Declaration in
their constitutional processes, advancing the justiciability of rights such as those to land and
territory, prior consultation, autonomy and access to justice. 76 The records of the Mexico City
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
12
Presentation by Victor Toledo at the expert meeting, November 2023.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador,
Judgment, 27 June 2012.
A/HRC/42/37/Add.1, para. 37.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Maya Q’eqchi’ Indigenous community of Agua Caliente v.
Guatemala, Judgment, 16 May 2023.
Submission from Elizka Relief Foundation.
See A/HRC/36/56.
Presentation by Victor Toledo at the expert meeting, November 2023. See also submission from
Mexico (in Spanish).
GE.24-13517