The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) recently granted constitutional relief to the Mayan people of Belize in a historic land rights case.
The CCJ delivered its judgement on October 30 in the case of The Maya Leaders Alliance et al v the Attorney General of Belize. The appeal was brought by 25 appellants who are members of the Maya community of the Toledo District. The appellants were fighting for recognition and protection of Maya land rights before international courts and the courts of Belize during the last 20 years or so.
According to a statement from the CCJ, the appeal before the CCJ arose out of litigation precipitated by an incursion onto farm lands in the Golden Stream village by Francis Johnson, now deceased.
While this appeal was being heard by the CCJ in Belize, the Appellants and the Government entered into a Consent Order on April 22, 2015 which recognised that the Maya system of customary land tenure gives rise to property rights within the meaning of the Constitution of Belize. The Consent Order also requires the Government to develop of a mechanism to recognise and protect Maya land rights in consultation with the Maya people. The parties are to report to the CCJ on the chosen mechanism by April 2016.
The statement said that under the Consent Order, the CCJ was asked to decide whether the appellants should be granted damages for breach of constitutional rights.
The CCJ found that the Government of Belize breached the appellants’ right to protection of the law by failing to ensure that the existing property regime, inherited from the pre-independence colonial system, recognised and protected Maya land rights. The CCJ emphasised that the protection of the law is linked to fairness and the rule of law. It demanded that the State take positive steps to secure and protect constitutional rights and to honour its international commitments, including its obligations to protect the rights of indigenous peoples.
It was also noted that the CCJ could not find sufficient evidence to support the appellants’ claim for special damages arising out of the Golden Stream incursion. While acknowledging that the remedial action to be undertaken by the Government under the Consent Order was reparatory, the CCJ felt that innovative use should be made of the broad jurisdiction to grant redress under the Constitution based on the centuries of oppression and marginalisation suffered by the Maya people.
The Court noted that the “boundaries of redress are not to be viewed as circumscribed by the concept of damages.” Therefore, the Court ordered the Government of Belize to establish a fund of BZ$300,000 as a first step towards compliance with its obligations under the Consent Order.
The decision of the Court was delivered by Sir Dennis Byron and Justice Winston Anderson. Monica Coc Magnusson represented the appellants while the Government of Belize was represented by Denys Barrow SC, Nigel Hawke and Naima Barrow.
