Latin American Legal Studies

Editors' note: Law and the Amazon

2026-03-31T21:47:52+00:00

Editor's note of the special issue on Law and the Amazon.

The ‘Unconsulted Consultation’: Indigenous Self-Determination and Plural Legalities in the Yasuní Referendum in Ecuador

2026-03-26T16:59:22+00:00

This article examines the 2023 referendum in Ecuador aimed at halting oil extraction in Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. Far from being experienced as a democratic victory, the referendum was perceived by the Kichwa organization FCUNAE as an “unconsulted consultation.” We argue that this process weakened Indigenous self-determination and reproduced a historical marginalization, despite its celebration as a post-extractive milestone. We reconstruct this history through three key moments—the declaration of Yasuní as a national park in 1979, the beginning of oil extraction in 2016, and the 2023 referendum—to show the collision between plural legalities: the prospective temporality of state law and the ancestral temporality through which Kichwa communities understand their rights.

Indigenous Agency in Absence: Representation and Non-Contact in Tagaeri and Taromenane v. Ecuador

2026-03-26T17:02:42+00:00

The Tagaeri and Taromenane are among the last Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Three massacres and the Ecuadorian State’s failure to protect them led to the case Pueblos Indígenas Tagaeri y Taromenane v. Ecuador (2024) before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Because the victims remained in isolation, those bringing the case faced the challenge of representing them and producing evidence in their absence. This article examines how representation and agency were framed in the case. It analyzes how international law conceptualizes Indigenous peoples in isolation and mobilizes the right to self-determination to address the specific condition of “no contact”. It argues that while this framework enables protection, it also creates limitations when indirect communication occurs, raising questions about how the voices and agency of isolated peoples can be acknowledged within international legal forums.

The Implementation of the Ecocentric Paradigm in Amazonian Jurisdictions: The Constitutionalization of Traditional Culture and the Rights of Nature in Bolivia and Ecuador

2026-03-26T17:05:50+00:00

Humanity is currently facing a severe ecological crisis, marked by the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, such as the deforestation of the Amazon, whose protection largely depends on Indigenous populations. Their cosmocentric worldview challenges the anthropocentric perspective typical of Western legal culture, promoting ecocentric or biocentric approaches. Building on this context, this study adopts a comparative approach to examine how the Indigenous cosmovision and the ecocentric paradigm are implemented in Ecuador and Bolivia, drawing on Rodolfo Sacco’s theory of legal formants. By analysing the political, normative, and judicial formants, this work aims to verify the effective implementation and implications of the Indigenous cosmovision of buen vivir in Ecuador and Bolivia, also in light of the contradictions arising from the regulation of natural resource exploitation.

The Amazon as a Planetary Legal Site: Reading International Law in the Anthropocene Through the Amazon

2026-03-26T17:09:46+00:00

This article examines how the Amazon Basin reveals structural tensions in international law in the Anthropocene. Rather than treating it as a bounded object of regulation or a regional case, it conceptualizes the Amazon as a planetary legal site where the limits of modern legal ordering become visible. Its ecological interdependence, transboundary dynamics, and indigenous territorial governance expose frictions with jurisdictional, epistemic, and normative assumptions of international law. The article identifies three tensions: between ecological interdependence and jurisdictional fragmentation; the marginalization of Indigenous legal orders within state-centered frameworks; and the persistence of anthropocentric legal reasoning. It proposes reorienting international law by approaching jurisdiction as relational, embracing epistemic pluralism, and recognizing ecological processes as sources of normative orientation.

In Search of a Theory: Premises, Possibilities, and Propositions in the Formulation of Another Theory of Legal Comparison

2026-03-26T17:14:41+00:00

The primary objective of this work is to offer scholars of Comparative Law Theory a set of initial reflections for another theorizing proposal in comparative law. In this sense, the hypothesis we address is that it is fundamental to construct theoretical contributions that consider the context of their production, enabling the emergence of unprecedented approaches that, in addition to existing ones, can reinvigorate the debate in the field. To prove this hypothesis, this text is divided into four moments. The first of these seeks to highlight the internal and external epistemological obstacles encountered in developing a theory of legal comparison that does not originate from the Global South. The second part of this text aims to engage in dialogue with various existing contributions, which serve as a starting point (and point of divergence) for formulating new theoretical bases. Finally, the last two moments of the text aim to present two contributions to legal comparison theory: the ideas of “legal grafting” and “internal decomparativism”.

Clausewitz in the Amazon

2026-03-26T17:26:28+00:00

From 2004 to 2014, deforestation dropped 80% in the Brazilian Amazon, mainly due to the implementation of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). Among the diverse instruments that composed PPCDAm’s policy basket, monitoring and control were the best-performing ones. The agency responsible for inspection operations at the federal level is the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Resources (Ibama). Drawing on 44 semi-structured interviews with different actors, this paper analyzes the transformations undergone by Ibama’s organizational structure and culture during the implementation process of PPCDAm. Its main finding is to shed light on the genesis of the “doctrine of deterrence”, a set of guidelines that oriented Ibama’s identity and actions, allowing it to rise to the challenge imposed by the PPCDAm.

Acre's ISA Carbono: Examining Conflicts over Environmental Services in Amazon Conservation Policies

2026-03-26T17:33:44+00:00

Brazil plays a key role in global climate governance through Payment for Environmental Services (PES) and REDD+ initiatives. This paper analyzes Acre’s System of Incentives for Environmental Services (SISA) and its ISA Carbono Program, a jurisdictional REDD+ framework linking forest conservation with the sustainable development of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It explores how ISA Carbono reflects convergences between Indigenous worldviews and Western climate mitigation approaches, particularly through the adaptation of its benefit-sharing structure to the ART/TREES methodology and Acre’s engagement in the LEAF Coalition. Addressing a gap in climate finance, the paper examines how Indigenous perceptions and agency shape emerging benefit-sharing mechanisms and assesses whether these align with global standards for equitable and sustainable climate governance. Acre’s experience offers insights for integrating Indigenous perspectives into climate policy frameworks.

Hyper-hotspots of Crime and Hypervictimization in the Amazon Rainforest: The Case of “Potassium War” in Autazes

2026-03-26T16:55:46+00:00

The catastrophe of environmental degradation in the Amazon Rainforest has accumulated harm in so many dimensions that it transcends the usual categories of victimization among individuals. Despite having planetary dimensions, this process is manifested in a concrete and territorialized way. By analyzing the context of the municipality of Autazes, located in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, it is possible to observe how the convergence between multiple levels of socio-environmental harm, criminal practices and conflicts resulting from human rights violations contribute significantly to the intensification of adverse climate effects. This context is expressed in the hypervictimization of local communities. The article focuses on how the cumulative pattern of harmful behavior opens a new chapter in victimological studies, characterized by “hypervictimization” and “hyper-hotspots”.

The Convergence between Modern Slavery and Environmental Degradation in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest: Exploring the Social-Environmental Victimization Nexus

2026-03-26T17:38:06+00:00

This essay explores the convergence between modern slavery and environmental degradation in the Brazilian Amazon, positioning them as interconnected sources of social and environmental victimisation. Through historical and contemporary analysis, it demonstrates how abusive labour exploitation — notably debt bondage — has facilitated illegal deforestation, cattle ranching, and mining, contributing to the Amazon's ecological degradation. Drawing from criminological and victimological theories, the research reveals how modern slavery perpetuates severe social harm while functioning as a mechanism for reproducing environmental injustice, with far-reaching consequences for climate change. By investigating this nexus, the paper promotes a deeper understanding of labour victimisation as a central factor in environmental harm and advocates for a victim-centred policy framework to address both social and ecological injustices in the Amazon and beyond.