Engaging legal systems in small-scale gold mining conflicts in three SouthAmerican countries

Abstract

This chapter addresses the relationship between engaging legal systems and the incidence of conflicts in small-scale gold mining. We concentrate on the conflicts that are the result of claims made by different stakeholders in their attempt to gain access to gold-rich soils and rivers and the revenues thereof. Each of the countries studies here – Suriname, Colombia and Brazil – have a complex set of laws, rules and regulations with regard to territory and natural resources. However, in many smallscale gold mining regions, the role of the state in implementing mining legislation and exercising authority has been marginal. Incompatibilities in the legal system and the lack of state laws form an important obstacle to the effective formulation and implementation of public policies for small-scale mining activities, and cause conflict in the respective local settings. By comparing the three cases, we make an inventory of the different legal systems, how these are interrelated and how people make strategic choices between them. This is what we call “engaging legal systems’’: the laws and regulations that interact in a situation of legal pluralism, and the users of the laws and regulations who relate to the different legal systems. We argue that the lack of state authority can be an important reason for the engagement of different legal systems. However, engaging legal systems are a common phenomenon in small-scale goldmining regions, even when state mining legislation exists. Understanding engaging legal systems is a prerequisite for the formulation of more adequate policies and the mitigation or solution of conflicts.