Customary Law or Ordinary Lawlessness

Abstract

The article, referring primarily to the situation in Latin America, indicates the necessity to specify the mutual relations between traditional and statutory law with more clarity. The lack of unambiguous criteria defining the scope of native jurisdiction and the applicability of customary law in countries which have officially recognised its validity often makes it very difficult or even impossible to apply these laws. On the other hand, the lack of precise criteria may contribute to events such as the extermination of an isolated indigenous group called the Taromenane in Ecuador in 2003. The problem of particular importance is the native representation and jurisdiction in the case of a conflict of interest between different native groups or two fractions within the same group, as well as the issue of the decisive principle in defining the hierarchy of legal norms, including the different native norms.