Six out of the 11 justices voted against the thesis that indigenous peoples only have rights to the lands they occupied on October 5, 1988.
With Minister Luiz Fux’s vote, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) formed a majority to overturn the Indigenous Land Timeframe. The current vote stands at 6 to 2. If no minister changes their vote, the legal thesis that indigenous peoples only have rights to the lands they occupied or were already disputing on October 5, 1988, the date of the Federal Constitution’s promulgation, will not hold.
Fux sided with Minister Edson Fachin, the case’s rapporteur, to overturn the Timeframe, but he did not wish to establish a firm thesis at this point in the trial.
The central issue of the session is the repossession claim filed by the Santa Catarina State Environment Foundation (Fatma) for an area administratively declared as traditionally occupied by indigenous people, located in part of the Sassafrás Biological Reserve (SC).
So far, six ministers – Edson Fachin (rapporteur), Alexandre de Moraes, Cristiano Zanin, Luís Roberto Barroso, Dias Toffoli, and Luiz Fux – believe that indigenous communities’ right to land does not depend on their occupation of the area on October 5, 1988. Ministers Nunes Marques and André Mendonça, however, argue that the date should be established as the Timeframe for occupation.
The remaining three ministers will cast their votes in the session this Thursday (September 22).