Divers Paths To Justice: Legal pluralism and the rights of Indigenous peoples in Southeast Asia

This book reveals that the majority of South East Asian countries already have plural legal systems and to some extent custom is recognized as a source of rights in the constitutions and laws of a number of them. National and international courts have affirmed indigenous peoples' customary rights in land. And all these countries have endorsed and ratified key international laws and treaties. Thus the basis for securing indigenous peoples' rights through a revalidation of customary law exists.

The forests of Southeast Asia are home to many tens of millions of people whose rights to their lands and forests are only weakly secured in national constitutions and laws. Yet many of them have dwelt in these areas since before the nation states in which they now find themselves were even created. They regulate their daily affairs, and control and manage their lands and forests, in accordance with customary laws which are both ancient in their origins and yet vital and flexible in their present day application. Customary law thus has both local and international validity, raising the question of how it is best accommodated by national law.

As this book makes plain, 'legal pluralism' is not an arcane field of analysis for academics but lies at the heart of indigenous peoples' struggles for the recognition of their rights.