51
juridical personality, judicial protection against violations of their property rights recognized
under Article 21 of the Convention.188
174. In conclusion, the members of the Saramaka people form a distinct tribal community
in a situation of vulnerability, both as regards the State as well as private third parties,
insofar as they lack the juridical capacity to collectively enjoy the right to property and to
challenge before domestic courts alleged violations of such right. The Court considers that
the State must recognize the juridical capacity of the members of the Saramaka people to
fully exercise these rights in a collective manner. This may be achieved by implementing
legislative or other measures that recognize and take into account the particular way in
which the Saramaka people view themselves as a collectivity capable of exercising and
enjoying the right to property. Thus, the State must establish, in consultation with the
Saramaka people and fully respecting their traditions and customs, the judicial and
administrative conditions necessary to ensure the recognition of their juridical personality,
with the aim of guaranteeing them the use and enjoyment of their territory in accordance
with their communal property system, as well as the rights to access to justice and equality
before the law.189
175. The State’s failure to do so has resulted in a violation, to the detriment of the
members of the Saramaka people, of the right to the recognition of their juridical
personality pursuant to Article 3 of the Convention in relation to their right to property
under Article 21 of such instrument and their right to judicial protection under Article 25
thereof, as well as in relation to the general obligation of States to adopt such legislative or
other measures as may be necessary to give effect to those rights and to respect and
ensure their free and full exercise without discrimination, pursuant to Articles 2 and 1(1) of
the Convention.
H.
THE
PROTECT THE
SURINAME
SARAMAKA PEOPLE AGAINST ACTS THAT VIOLATE THEIR RIGHT TO PROPERTY
AVAILABILITY OF ADEQUATE AND EFFECTIVE LEGAL REMEDIES IN
TO
176. The Commission and the representatives alleged that the State has violated the
Saramaka peoples’ right to judicial protection insofar as the State’s judicial system is not
adequately designed to remedy violations of collective property rights of indigenous and
tribal peoples. The State maintains that legal remedies are domestically available to
address alleged violations of the property interests of the Saramaka people, and that these
have been available to the alleged victims, who have opted not to resort to them. In
support of its position, the State referred to several domestic provisions, some of which the
Court has already addressed in its analysis of the State’s violation of Article 21 of the
Convention in conjunction with Article 2 thereof (supra paras. 106-116). Specifically, the
State argued that effective legal recourse is recognized under several articles of Suriname’s
Civil Code,190 which allows any individual to apply to the judiciary in case of an alleged
infringement of his or her property rights, including alleged violations by the State itself.
The Commission and the representatives argued that said provisions are both irrelevant to
188
Cf., for example, Marijkedorp case (holding that private property titles trump traditional forms of
ownership), cf. Affidavit of Mariska Muskiet, supra note 187, and Inter-American Development Bank, Indigenous
Peoples and Maroons in Suriname, supra note 97, (folio 568) (stating that “[u]nder Surinamese law, indigenous
and tribal peoples and communities lack legal personality and are therefore incapable of holding and enforcing
rights[…] Attempts by indigenous peoples to use the court system have therefore failed”).
189
Cf. Case of the Indigenous Community Sawhoyamaxa, supra note 75, para. 189.
190
Cf. Articles 1386, 1387, 1388, 1392 and 1393 of Civil Code of Suriname (case file of appendices to the
application and Appendix 1, appendix 4, folios 51) and State’s answer to the application (merits, volume II, folios
335-336).
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