Indigenous Peoples and Law in Asia

An online seminar co-hosted by the Australian Journal of Asian Law, the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society and the Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne, explored the complex legal, political, and territorial challenges facing Asia's 300 million Indigenous people.

The Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact reports estimates that over 300 million Indigenous people live in Asia, representing hundreds of distinct ethnic groups (AIPP, Strategic Plan 2025: 7). These groups face distinctive challenges when asserting their status and rights in international and domestic law. The Australian Journal of Asian Law’s Special Issue on Indigenous Peoples in Asia explores a broad range of topics of current importance to the lives and rights of peoples in the region including:

• The legal and political strategies used by communities to advance their rights, including self-determination.
• Developments in the recognition or non-recognition of Indigenous peoples in state law.
• The place of Indigenous law and law-making authority, and the operation of forms of legal pluralism.
• The rights of communities with cross-border affiliations and territories, including legal issues arising from cross-border mobility and immigration.

In this online seminar, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars from around the world addressed these and other themes through case-studies of Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Myanmar.

This event was co-hosted by the Australian Journal of Asian Law, the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society and the Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne.