Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
This creates a need for regulatory systems and space for customary and informal legal
orders to arise.
In Suriname most gold is mined in irregular situations. That is, without mining
titles. Although the law does not permit it, national entrepreneurs sublet part of their
concessions to migrant miners. Awhole set of informal rules and regulations then takes
effect to organise this subletting of mining plots. These informal arrangements exist
outside of the national formal law, but not outside of local rules and laws. It shows that
formal law is not the only regulatory system in mining regions and that parallel legal
systems co-exist and can be effective. It is important to understand where and when
different legal systems interact. Under which circumstances are these engagements
constructive or do they cause conflict, and for or between whom? In research on
small-scale gold mining, it is interesting to look for elements of customary law that
have become part of a newly developed and dynamic local law. It might, however,
be as plausible to assume that many customary rules are gradually being infringed or
adjusted to fit into a dynamic and quickly changing mining setting.
Whatever legal systems are in effect, it is important to note that they are seldom
static. Such a conception does not do justice to the complex process of negotiation,
positioning and creation by individuals and groups of people. The individual stake-
holders in the mining sector engage with rules and rights, and the different legal systems
may be adapted to some extent. But these systems also engage with and therefore influ-
ence each other, precisely because they exist together. Of course, this is not only the
case with small-scale gold mining rights. In other regions and sectors, customary law,
local law and traditional law are all terms referring to sets of rules that have been
accepted and used by local communities, and have to be taken in consideration in the
study of engaging legal systems. The merit of the legal pluralism approach is that it
forces us to concentrate on the empirical reality behind a particular legal order and its
effects on people's claims and rights in relation to the natural resources. Taking the
local as a starting point for analysis helps us understand the dynamics of rule-making
and norms, and discover the roots of conflicts as well as strategies to mitigate such
conflicts.
In the Amazon, small-scale gold mining is often considered illegal and informal
because they fall outside the scope of national mining laws. Additionally, there are no
clear regulations about the “property'' of the mineral resources. The property rights
over the resources include the rights to use resources, but also the rights to take deci-
sions and regulate control. Meinzen-Dick and Pradhan (2001: 10-17) argue that the
implications of legal pluralism for natural resource management lie in an alternative
way to view property rights and resource users' relationship with natural resources.
Rather than seeking a single definition of property rights, it is better to recognise the
multiple and often overlapping bases for claims, and to regard property rights and the
uses of natural resources as negotiated outcomes.
In the following sections, we analyse how legal systems engage in the context of
small-scale gold mining in the Amazon, under which circumstances these engagements
are constructive or cause conflict, and for or between whom. We will provide three
cases, each with different legal systems operating on the local level, engaging in par-
ticular ways with particular results. The comparison of these cases will illustrate that
the study of the different legal orders that exist in the mining practice of gold miners
in Suriname, Colombia and Brazil gives insight into the conflicts on different scales.
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