Edward Murillo
Newspaper La Jornada
Monday, June 6, 2022, p. 12
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) published six jurisprudence on the obligation to carry out prior consultations to grant mining concessions in areas inhabited by indigenous communities. These criteria must be complied with, starting today to resolve any pending trial on the subject.
The legislation arose as a result of the approval, on February 16, of an injunction for the indigenous community of Tecoltemi, Puebla, against the permits granted to the Canadian Almaden Minerals Ltd to exploit an open-pit gold and silver mine. in the mountainous area of their ancestral territories.
The ministers agreed that the government violated the rights to health and a healthy environment of the Nahua peoples by not asking them about a measure that directly affects their well-being.
The first chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation determines that the Ministry of Economy, at the time of issuing mining concession titles, is constrained to comply with the constitutional obligation contained in article 2 and conventional established in Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries of the International Labor Organization, of which Mexico is a member
indicates the first thesis.
The jurisprudence is based on the points of the sentence approved by a qualified majority of four votes, based on similar arguments. Among them, it is established that although the Mining Law does not include in its text any provision on indigenous consultation, it is an obligation when it comes to projects that impact their interests and rights.
In addition, it is ordered that the process must be done before issuing the concession titles to guarantee that they are free and informed.
However, it is added that it is not the obligation of the federal Legislative Power to modify the Mining Law to include in it provisions on the indigenous consultation, since it is not specifically addressed to this sector of the population.
