In the last four decades Indigenous peoples have secured remarkable standard-setting and institution-building achievements on the international stage. The 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a comprehensive articulation of the contours of international Indigenous peoples’ rights norms.

A collection of UN mechanisms have been established with an exclusive focus on advancing the position of Indigenous peoples: the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the UN Human Rights Council’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples’ rights have been affirmed in the jurisprudence of the bodies that monitor compliance with the core UN human rights treaties and the regional human rights bodies. A host of specialised international agencies have also extended their attentions to Indigenous peoples, including the International Labour Organisation, the World Bank Group and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

This course explores contemporary international law regarding Indigenous peoples and their rights through the various international institutions that make, promote and implement that law. It devotes especial attention to Indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination, culture and lands and natural resources.