Home / Vol.13, n°2 / La protection juridique des modes de vie minoritaires et autochtones : analyse comparée des décisions de deux juridictions régionales

This article deals with the protection of indigenous and minorities lifestyles, which recently gave birth to legal disputes on the international stage, through regional courts’ decisions, as the European and the Inter-American Courts of Human Rights. Two main decisions have been issued since 2001. The first one is the European Court of Human Rights’ Chapman v. United Kingdom, which states that there is « a positive obligation imposed on the Contracting States by virtue of Article 8 [of the European Convention] to facilitate the Gypsy way of life ». The second decision is Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua, by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which recognises the communal property of indigenous people on their lands. This case law is a « work in progress », because the scope of this new protection is not completely determined, even if the recognition of this right is a main innovation. Moreover, it is not a homogenous recognition.

Indeed, what are, the legal framework and the limits applicable to this new right to respect for indigenous and minorities ways of living?