Amicus Curiae brief by Professor Martin Scheinin in the case of 'Daniel Billy et al. (Torres Strait Islanders) v. Australia' by the UN Human Rights committee

Abstract

This Bonavero Report consists of an amicus curiae brief by Martin Scheinin, British Academy Global Professor at the Bonavero Institute, as submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the treaty body under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in the case of Daniel Billy et al. v. Australia (Communication No. 3624/2019). The case concerns adverse human rights impacts of climate change in the lives of indigenous Torres Strait Islanders. The Billy case is the first successful international human rights case regarding states’ treaty obligations regarding climate change. The complaint was declared admissible, and the state party Australia was found to have violated its positive human rights obligations under ICCPR Articles 17 and 27 regarding, respectively, the right to privacy, family and home, and the right of members of a minority – such as an indigenous people – to enjoy their own culture in community with other members of their group. The Committee’s reasons for finding the violations overlapped, so that also the Article 17 violation was related “to the traditional indigenous way of life of the authors, who enjoy a special relationship with their territory” (see, paragraph 8.10 of the Committee’s Final Views).