Understanding the C.C.J. Ruling on Maya Land Rights

Senior Counsel Smith also provided a summary of the C.C.J.’s decision in respect of that matter.  He contextualized the significance of the community title by comparing it to vast swaths of land held by individual titleholders.

Godfrey Smith

Godfrey Smith, Attorney-at-law

“The C.C.J. didn’t say this part now, so I don’t want it to be any confusion.  I am now saying in summary, the judgment says that the Maya have community title and just like an individual, you, me or whoever, the people who own big parcels of land, thirty-odd thousand [acres] have dehn individual title and you cyant go pan somebody land weh have dehn individual title, if it’s a parcel or its twenty-odd thousand, dehn cannot stop you.  In that same way, it’s the same concept except da one title fi di village, fi each village for all dehn people pan it. So it’s for this twenty-odd thousand people, Maya people that this community land is for.  Some people say, “weh dehn wahn soh much land?” Man da noh soh much land if you look at how much it is and yoh sih much Maya people deh da how many villages and yoh divide it up. It’s less than what single individuals who own tens of thousands of acres.  And so the meaning of the judgment also is that this community title is enforceable against government or anybody else.”