Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 02, 2023 Court Stories, News
Kaieteur News – The Upper Mazaruni District Council (UMDC) has filed a notice to appeal to contest Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George Wiltshire’s ruling in their challenge to the Government, over their rights to upper Mazaruni lands.
The group had promised to appeal portions of the High Court ruling on the rights of the Akawaio and Arecuna to Upper Mazaruni lands.
Last December, Chief Justice (CJ) George-Wiltshire handed down a judgment in the decades-old Amerindian land rights case, stating that while the Akawaio and Arecuna people have rights to the Upper Mazaruni lands which were in dispute for over two decades – their rights are not in exclusion to others.
The group had nonetheless expressed some concern that the Chief Justice “did not elaborate on precisely what it means to have a communal title and what she meant by the exclusions to our title.”
Representatives of the two tribes contended that the CJ erred when she determined that the State held the radical title of the lands, failing to take into consideration the Roman-Dutch legal underpinnings in Guyanese property law, under which the State does not hold such radical title to the lands.
The group said that Justice George Wiltshire erred when she found it was not necessary for a declaration to be granted to the tribes, to say that they were entitled to a legitimate expectation of communal titles, given the occupation of the said properties from time immemorial.
The UMDC contends that the trial judge erred in law by refusing to recognize that the Akawaio and Arekuna People’s aboriginal title was to the exclusion of all others, despite finding that they are the exclusive occupants of the lands, at the time of the British colonial rule.
The group claims that the judge erred when she failed to recognize that the aboriginal title which was issued under Roman/Dutch property law is still relevant and affords them ownership the lands including rights to the water and subsoil resources in addition to the owner restitution of lands.
Added to this, the group contends that the CJ made an erroneous determination by refusing to grant the tribes compensation for the impairment of rights to the lands.
Following the ruling last December, the UMDC issued a statement reaffirming its position that the government must first seek and obtain consent prior to any projects that it intends to undertake in the communal lands.
The group also claimed rights to carbon credits generated on the land.
The Indigenous people of the Upper Mazaruni District have long sought legal title for recognition of their rights to traditional and ancestral lands.
The two groups approached the court seeking declarations that they not only have rights to the land they deem ancestral land, but exclusive rights to the lands in question.
In her ruling, the Chief Justice confirmed that the Indigenous groups have rights to the lands in dispute albeit not exclusive.
The Akawaio and Arekuna people argued that from time immemorial, they continuously occupied the Upper Mazaruni lands and by virtue of this, they have inalienable rights to the lands.
In her explanation, Justice George-Wiltshire said that she could not declare that the Indigenous Peoples have rights exclusive to the lands because those rights are subjected to the State.
Further, the Chief Justice said that traditionally, from the 1800s and onwards, there was a practice by the Akawaio and Arekuna people to occupy the disputed lands. Evidence presented to the court shows that non-indigenous persons have been occupying the lands.
In a statement following the ruling, the UMDC said too that it is their understanding that, in light of the Court’s ruling, Government agencies such as the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) do not have the authority to issue any concessions in the communal lands without the express permission of their communities.
“We intend to write to various Government agencies to formally notify them of this position. In addition, we intend to seek advice and information regarding the status of concessions granted between 1998 [when the case was filed] and the date of this judgment. Our communities are the clear victors in this case,” the group added in the statement.
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