Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

250 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries
going all the way up to higher courts, and possibly even the
national equivalent of a supreme court. If it is clear that for
some reason a community cannot get justice at the national
level, then it can seek redress in international courts. This
chapter reviews options at the regional level, and also to bring
a case against a company in its home country.
2.6.1 Local Legal Strategy
The first point is that any legal strategy will almost certainly
have to rely on some form of legal advice or support.
There are likely to be a number of sources for this, that may
include friendly lawyers (who will ideally work on a pro bono,
i.e., free, basis) paralegal and legal NGOs or, if there are the
resources, established law firms. It is possible that support and
advice can come from other affected communities or from a
national indigenous organization.
There may be any number of reasons why legal action is
difficult. These include inadequate national legislation, lack of
access to information, the costs of legal proceedings coupled
with lack of legal aid, corruption, or the politicization of the
judiciary. The latter is a particular problem where there is
political pressure for foreign direct investment, regardless of
the cost. Remember, however, that even if there is a belief that
local courts are so ineffective or corrupt that a case is likely
to fail, it is often necessary to prove that all the of national
legal remedies have been exhausted before legal action can be
brought outside of the country. Besides, it is often worth a try
as sometimes it is possible to win against the odds. After all, a
judge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—a jurisdiction
hardly known for being robust—did rule that three former
executives of Anvil Mining should stand trial “for war crimes”
because of the company’s complicity in the 2004 Dilukushi
massacre (although they were later acquitted). 1
Given it can be a long, complex and expensive strategy, it
is best to consider how any work in this area can be maximized
through other means, which will mean integrating it with press