Abstract
AbstractThe 2009 Bolivian constitution included provisions that establish a radical form of de jure legal pluralism by creating a parallel legal system that gives full recognition to the nonstate legal orders and forms of conflict resolution of Indigenous communities. This article examines how a land dispute within a Bolivian highland Indigenous community resulted in a disagreement between different local forms of political and judicial authority. This turned on the question of which authorities had the right to judge the case, the nature of justice and indigeneity, and the legal pluralism enshrined in the constitution. Analysis of this situation illustrates not only the internal tensions and paradoxical effects of this juridical project but also the potential limitations of any attempt to formally recognize legal plurality. [legal pluralism, Indigenous justice, usos y costumbres, plurinational state, Movimiento al Socialismo]
Highlights
Doyle, Matthew (2021) The case of Piruani: contested justice, legal pluralism, and indigeneity in highland Bolivia
This turned on the question of which authorities had the right to judge the case, the nature of justice and indigeneity, and the legal pluralism enshrined in the constitution
A land dispute between families in a village hamlet of the Indigenous community of Bolívar transformed into a discussion between its forms of local authority over how to resolve the conflict and who has the right to judge the case according to the legal pluralism established by the 2009 Bolivian constitution, illustrating in the process their different conceptions of justice and law
Summary
Matthew (2021) The case of Piruani: contested justice, legal pluralism, and indigeneity in highland Bolivia. The management of land, the conflicts surrounding it, and the associated community rituals are the responsibility of the traditional ayllu authority or jilanku, who alongside the local peasant union leader or dirigente and monthly communal assembly, form the lowest level of government within the province.
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