THE ISSUE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AT THE UNITED NATIONS: SELECTED PROBLEMS

Abstract

The paper is a critical analysis of the index of norms and mechanisms protecting the collective rights of indigenous peoples established at the United Nations. The norms and mechanisms for the rights of indigenous peoples have been studied from two viewpoints: firstly, through the prism of how the norm of ‘the right to self-determination’ is created and implemented within the framework of international cooperation; and secondly, as collective rights, which are both a form of implementation of the individual human right and its complement. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been analysed with the use of the legal and dogmatic method. The conclusion provides an assessment complemented by de lege ferenda postulates.