The right to the indigenous legal systems under the legal pluralism. An analysis from a right perspective

Abstract

This article is divide into four great moments. Initially, in which to establish the conditions to set the foundations for a possible right to Indigenous Legal Systems (ILS) as a fundamental reference for defining Legal Pluralism. A second time, placing the concept of indigenous people’s justice in the discourse of human rights, taking into account constitutional references in Latin America (Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, etc.) and the International System of Human Rights. This is where we will put the ILS in connection with a series of basic principles such as: the right to their own culture; the right to autonomy; the necessary coordination between indigenous jurisdiction and state jurisdiction; the necessary link of indigenous justice with human rights; and the essential bound between ILS and their lands, territories and natural resources. A third stage in establishing specifications and supplements to attempt and ground the right to the ILS, taking into consideration the statements, reports and legal adjustments to understand the rights of indigenous peoples by other legal practitioners under the regional forum for protection the human rights: the Organization of American States. These pronouncements and legal interventions work as springs that complement the construction of a legal discourse of human rights in relation to indigenous peoples and, especially, reinforcing the right to ILS.