Eco Jurisprudence Monitor

Guatemala Court Case: Indigenous Peoples and Water

Guatemala
Approved in 2019
National
Court Case
Indigenous Model
Water
Freshwater Ecosystem
Rolando López Crisóstomo, Municipio de Comitancillo dentro del Consejo Mam; José Luis Ramírez, Alcalde Indígena del cantón Centro del municipio de San Juan Olintepeque; Víctor Manuel Sales Ortiz, Primer Cargador y Presidente del Consejo Maya Mam Saq Tx’otx –CMST; Angel Roblero Bravo, Presidente de la Junta Directiva y Representante Legal de la Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral Maya Ajchmol –ADIMA–; Juan Lucas Díaz, Consejo Mam; Ramón Clemente Ixcol Chávez, Alcaldía Indígena del municipio de Santa Lucía Utatlán; Miguel Angel Manuel Alvarado, autoridades ancestrales Maya Achí del municipio de Rabinal; Pedro Benjamín Barreno Zapeta y Santiago Domingo García Chamorro, Presidente y Vocal I, respectivamente, de la Junta Directiva de Bienes y Recursos Naturales de los Cuarenta y Ocho Cantones del departamento de Totonicapán; Seledonia Vicente Vicente, Red de Mujeres Maya Kiché del municipio de Momostenango, departamento de Totonicapán; Silvia Elizabeth Conoz Téllez, Irma Yolanda Tuc Quemé, Favián Enrique Castañeda Barrios, Narciso Nicolás Cua Culuz, Orla Marina Siquiná de Siquiná, Rigoberto Juarez Mateo
Government, Indigenous

Summary

In 2019, a decision of the Constitutional Court of Guatemala established the partial unconstitutionality of several articles of the Civil Code, the Mining Law, and the Agrarian Transformation Law. The court also ordered the Parliament to create legislation in order to develop a right to water as well as the recognition of the diverse relationships that exists between indigenous peoples and water.

Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2025. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor.https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/relationship-between-indigenous-people-and-water/.

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Legal Document

Guatemala Constitutional Court Decision Addressing Relationship between Indigenous People and Water
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