scholarly journals Hak Orang Asal Berkaitan dengan Pengambilalihan Tanah: Kajian Perbandingan antara Malaysia dengan Filipina

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Nur Syafiqah Izzati Zahari ◽  
◽  
Rohaida Nordin ◽  
Norainina Shariful Anuar ◽  
Norizan Abdul Samad Uthayasoorian

The Orang Asli are in a precarious position compared to other majority groups in Peninsular Malaysia as their customary land rights are continuously infringed upon. This is worrying because land is a vital part of the Orang Asli livelihood. Several issues regarding the provisions of native land rights, acquisition of Orang Asli ancestral land not in line with correct procedure, and issues concerning compensation for any acquisition of ancestral land are the main problems faced by the Orang Asli. Hence, the main objective of this research is to examine the legal rights of the Orang Asli to their ancestral land in Peninsular Malaysia, to throw light on the correct procedure of acquisition of such according to legal provisions, and to compare and contrast acquisition of native ancestral land in Peninsular Malaysia to that in the Philippines. Through a doctrinal and comparative approach, this research hopes to enhance knowledge regarding Orang Asli customary rights to land and land acquisition in Peninsular Malaysia, as well as to aid law-makers to reform existing laws and policies in order to ensure protection of Orang Asli rights in the future.

Author(s):  
Alice M. Nah

In Southeast Asia, the birth of postcolonial states in the aftermath of the Second World War marked a watershed in political relations between ethnic groups residing within emerging geo-political borders. Plurality and difference were defining characteristics of the social landscape in these nascent states. Colonial laws and policies that divided groups and territories for efficient control influenced the relations between linguistically and culturally distinct groups. The transfer of power to ‘natives’ during decolonization often resulted in indigenous minorities being sidelined politically and legally. Indigenous minorities in Southeast Asia continue to negotiate for more equitable inclusion in contemporary postcolonial states. In some cases, such as in Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, these have escalated into separatist movements. Other indigenous minorities however, struggle for the recognition of their identity and rights through – rather than apart from – existing state mechanisms of power, for example by lobbying for changes in existing laws and bringing cases to court. The struggle for recognition of the legal rights of indigenous minorities began, however, before the process of decolonization; colonial powers contended with politically dominant indigenous majorities as they tried to exert influence over territories, and this had impacts on indigenous minorities. The British method of colonization, in particular, which sought to attain ‘indirect rule’ without using military conquest, required the identification and recognition of native structures of power. British administrators exerted influence through the ‘invitation’ of local rulers, which meant that domestic laws and administrative policies were developed as a result of negotiation rather than through direct imposition of English laws and policies. As a result, the legal structures put in place during decolonization meant that some recognition of indigenous customary practices was already incorporated, albeit for certain indigenous groups and not for others. In order to recognize and protect the ‘special rights’ of indigenous persons, it became vital to define the legal identity of individuals. It was necessary for British administrators to determine which groups were ‘indigenous’, what specific criteria were required for demonstrating membership of these groups, and when disputes occurred, to determine which individuals possessed a legitimate claim of belonging. They also had to decide if the rights and privileges were accorded on a group or individual basis. These decisions are neither ahistorical nor apolitical. In this paper, I examine the contemporary case of the Orang Asli, the minority indigenous peoples of the Malay Peninsula. I begin by providing an outline of political developments that have resulted in the legal recognition of three groups of people as having indigenous status. I also review the evolution of the Malaysian legal system in order to provide a context for subsequent discussion. I then look at how Orang Asli are recognized in the Federal Constitution and in statutes, with reference to case law, as the meaning and weight of these written laws were elaborated in court judgements. I then look at three court cases, reviewing the right to engage in commercial activities in aboriginal places as decided in the Koperasi Kijang Mas Bhd & Ors v. Kerajaan Negeri Perak & Ors (1991), hereafter referred to as the Koperasi Kijang Mas case; the recognition of native title and usufructuary rights as recognized in Adong Kuwau & Ors v. Kerajaan Negeri Johor & Anor (1997), hereafter referred to as the Adong Kuwau case, a judgement upheld in the Court of Appeal (Kerajaan Negeri Johor & Anor v. Adong Kuwau & Ors (1998) and the Federal Court;2 as well as proprietary rights in and to the land which were recognized in the Sagong Tasi & Ors v. Kerajaan Negeri Selangor & Ors (2002) ruling, hereafter referred to as the Sagong Tasi case, upheld in the Court of Appeal (see Kerajaan Negeri Selangor & Ors v. Sagong Bin Tasi & Ors (2005) but currently under appeal in the Federal Court. These cases demonstrate how Orang Asli have drawn on international legal frameworks to claim special privileges in ways not possible for other Malaysians, on the basis of their identity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (Number 1) ◽  
pp. 199-217
Author(s):  
Kamilah Wati Mohd ◽  
Fareed Mohd Hassan ◽  
Intan Nadia Ghulam Khan ◽  
Izawati Wook

The Orang Asli group forms a minority community in Peninsular Malaysia, whose livelihood mostly depends on their land and the surrounding area. Dispute over customary land rights of Orang Asli has been continual in Malaysia although Malaysian Courts, in several cases, have upheld the Common Law rights of Orang Asli to their customary lands. This poses a challenge to some Orang Asli communities and State Governments. Based on focus group discussion, profiling survey, and library research methods, this paper analyses the land rights of Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia, by placing focus on Orang Asli in Kampung Parit Gong, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan. The findings indicate that the Kampung Parit Gong Orang Asli community has been strictly adhering to the customs of ‘adat perpatih’ since yesteryears, and that they highly value the land, both through usage of land and by inheritance. Several important concerns were raised by the Orang Asli in Kampung Parit Gong, particularly on the security over their rights on the said customary land and the guarantee of their future generations’ socio-economic wellbeing. Having said that, this paper proposes several legal and administrative measures to not only address the uprising issues, but also to ascertain that the rights of Orang Asli residing in Peninsular Malaysia are secured.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Izawati Wook

The perspective that the Orang Asli communities do not have legal rights to their customary land remains despite common law recognition by the courts in a series of cases since two decades ago. To the contrary, this article argues that such a perspective has no basis under the law. By using a historical research approach, it is shown that it has never been the case under the law, policy and practices that the customary land of the Orang Asli was denied their entitlement. In practice, the law and official policy and their development in history observe and acknowledge the existing rights to land and resources, which arose from custom of the local inhabitants including the Orang Asli. The law inherently recognises the Orang Asli as having their own distinct political and social identities. The article provides a historical perspective of law and official practices in the Malay Peninsula in relation to land rights of the Orang Asli and trace their origin to British conduct in North America and the Indian Empire which directly influenced their actions in the Malay states. The reality is that, rather than the denial of the land rights of the Orang Asli under the law, there were other factors that led to the continued loss of their land. Conflicting economic interests and cultural attitudes compounded by a change towards legal positivism that came to prevail both, in international law and national legal systems, hampered the recognition of law relating to the land rights of the Orang Asli, who are a minority group that lacks political power. Following this argument, the development of Malaysian common law, beginning from the case of Adong bin Kuwau v Kerajaan Negeri Johor in 1997 that addressed the concerns of the Orang Asli, as well as the natives in East Malaysia, is not novel; it is merely the application of a long standing legal principle in the jurisdiction.


Author(s):  
Izawati Wook

The prevailing view about the Orang Asli’s occupation of land and access to forest resources are that they are ‘privileges’ extended by the states or at the governments’ discretion. It is widely believed that the Orang Asli live on the State land as tenant-at-will. This paper proposes to examine the position of the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (Act 153) (the APA) and trace its historical background. It takes both historical and doctrinal approaches in the legal research methodology. Situated within this historical background, the principle that developed from it and the position of the laws, the paper argues that under the principle of respect to the rights of the existing inhabitants, the law recognizes the rights of the Orang Asli to their land and resources that arose from their custom and practice. The APA establishes a framework to recognize and protect these rights. There is no legal basis for the perception that the Orang Asli live on the State land on the benevolence of the State. Keywords: Legal history; Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954; Indigenous peoples; Orang Asli; Peninsular Malaysia.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinnari Bhatt

AbstractOne way of understanding the exile of the Chagos Islanders and their inability to return to their ancestral land is through a reading of the case from a perspective of post-colonial legal scholarship. Chagossians have strong legal rights to land and remedies of compensation and return through a purposive application of the international legal definition of Indigenous, Magna Carta right to abode and international human rights law that could address their dispossession. Yet, the inability of those rights to be meaningfully applied has been constrained because of the post-colonial way they are legally interpreted, creating a legal vacuum in which basic fairness and substantive equality have been routinely compromised. Drawing attention to the continued legal denial of return in the context of decolonisation, ongoing colonialism and the rule of law makes sense of the legal record and explains the expulsion of the islanders despite the moral merits of return.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-112
Author(s):  
Wahyu Widiyono

Dipterocarpaceae is known as a very important tree family both biologically and economically.  Its distribution around the world covers the areas of Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi, Maluku to Papua.  Dipterocarpaceae family has a high economic value, such as producing wood, balsam, resin, charcoal, fat, fruit, bark, essential oil, and camphor. Its products have very important roles for domestic use and export needs. As  representatives of Dipterocarpaceae, the economic value of Shorea Roxb. ex Gaertner f, Dipterocarpus Gaertner f, and Dryobalanops Gaertner f will be discussed. Considering the very important role of Dipterocarpaceae, both biologically and economically, it is necessary to handle it sustainably, through the following actions such as conservation of genetic resources, seed physiology, seed handling, seedling ecology, root symbiosis and nutrition, pest and disease, management of natural forest, and plantation, and also non-timber forest product from Dipterocarpaceae. Dipterocarpaceae dikenal sebagai famili pohon yang sangat penting baik secara biologis maupun ekonomis. Penyebarannya di seluruh dunia meliputi wilayah Semenanjung Malaysia, Filipina, Sumatera, Kalimantan, Jawa, Sulawesi, Maluku hingga Papua. Famili Dipterocarpaceae memiliki nilai ekonomi yang tinggi, seperti menghasilkan kayu, balsam, damar, arang, lemak, buah, kulit kayu, minyak atsiri, dan kapur barus. Produk-produknya memiliki peran yang sangat penting untuk kebutuhan domestik dan ekspor. Sebagai perwakilan Dipterocarpace, nilai ekonomi Shorea Roxb. ex Gaertner f, Dipterocarpus Gaertner f, dan Dryobalanops Gaertner f akan dibahas. Mengingat peranan Dipterocarpaceae yang sangat penting, baik secara biologis maupun ekonomis, maka perlu dilakukan penanganan secara berkelanjutan, melalui tindakan-tindakan seperti konservasi sumber daya genetik, fisiologi benih, penanganan benih, ekologi semai, simbiosis dan nutrisi akar, hama dan penyakit, pengelolaan hutan alam, dan perkebunan, serta hasil hutan bukan kayu dari Dipterocarpaceae.  


2021 ◽  
pp. 251660692110572
Author(s):  
Mohammad Omar Faruk ◽  
Sanjeev P. Sahni ◽  
Gerd Ferdinand Kirchhoff

Though a few provisions for the victim of crimes were indirectly recognized since the nineteenth century, from 2000 onwards, legal entitlements for crime victims are realized in Bangladesh with a specific focus on women and children. So far, few analyses are found to be performed mainly by the legal experts, emphasizing legal rights and remedies with recommendations for legal reform. However, studies on the status of victims’ rights seem to be incomplete without considering administrative as well as social reality—dominated by colonial legacy and traditional practices—beyond the written clauses in the law books. This study is one of the pioneering attempts in Bangladesh to understand the status of crime victims against the backdrop of recent legal changes and to examine the argument whether the legal provisions itself are enough in providing victims with intended benefits without simultaneous social and administrative changes. Within the theoretical framework of balancing victim’s rights and informal social control (victim blaming), this qualitative study (through content analysis) reviewed all criminal laws and research findings related to victim’s rights within a socio-legal approach in terms of victim’s access, participation, protection, services and compensation. Along with the rights legally granted to victims, available research findings were interpreted in connection to those particular rights. It is found that there are unsupportive social milieu, administrative subculture and political practices, where victims of crime are strongly restrained from enjoying their rights. Particularly, the status of crime victims is found to be undermined in the face of corruption, low public confidence on enforcing agencies, gross withdrawal or discharge of criminal cases on political grounds, limited geographical coverage of victim support services and shelter homes, lengthy process for compensation and unavailability of rules or guidelines to enforce the rights.


Author(s):  
Barbara Watson Andaya

Southeast Asia includes eleven countries, although this contemporary configuration disguises significant differences, especially in regard to religion and economic status. Theravada Buddhism is dominant in the “mainland” countries of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, while Vietnam is influenced by the religious and intellectual traditions of China, including Mahayana Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. In the “island” areas (Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, and Timor Leste/Timor Lorosae), the dominant faiths are Islam and Christianity (the latter a majority in the Philippines, Timor Leste, and parts of the eastern Indonesian archipelago), with Bali retaining a localized form of Hinduism. There are also marked economic differences. Singapore and Brunei are among the world’s richest countries, with Laos and Timor Leste among the poorest. Despite this diversity, a regional theme concerns the interaction between religious change and commerce. A chronological and comparative approach that moves from early times to the present day shows that ideas about relationships to the cosmos have developed in tandem with expanding commerce. Although this relationship has never been static, the aim of establishing a beneficial interaction with the supranatural world remains a basic human goal. During the 1st millennium ce the rise of new polities, combined with increasing overland and maritime trade, encouraged the adoption and adaption of incoming religions, notably Hinduism and Buddhism. The 13th century marks the beginning of a new phase with the spread of Theravada Buddhism on the mainland and Islam and subsequently Christianity in the island world. The commerce-religion nexus, though still present, is less evident from the mid-19th century to World War II, when all of Southeast Asia except for Thailand was under colonial control. From the late 20th century transnational trade has allied with religious resurgence, generating new and dynamic forms of engaging with nonhuman forces.


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