From instrument of empire to vehicle for change: the potential of emerging international standards for indigenous peoples of the Commonwealth Caribbean

Abstract

International law, described as the West’s ‘perfect instrument of Empire’, rallied around European expansionist policies during the Age of Discovery, with dire consequences for indigenous peoples of the circum-Caribbean region. Today, common problems facing the descendants of those who survived that onslaught can be traced to the lack of enforceable land rights and weak regulatory frameworks in relation to resource-extractive industries. This paper examines the potential of emerging international standards to resolve issues related to land and resource-use rights, through a comparative analysis of the first two indigenous land rights decisions in the Commonwealth Caribbean.