RESPONSABILIDADE CIVIL AMBIENTAL POR DEGRADAÇÃO EM TERRAS INDÍGENAS: ESTUDO JURISPRUDENCIAL E IMPACTO SOBRE A AUTODETERMINAÇÃO DOS POVOS/ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY FOR DEGRADATION IN INDIGENOUS LANDS: JUDICIAL STUDY AND IMPACT ON PEOPLES' SELF-DETERMINATION/RESPONSABILIDAD CIVIL AMBIENTAL POR LA DEGRADACIÓN EM TIERRAS INDÍGENAS: ESTUDIO DE CASO Y EL IMPACTO SOBRE LA AUTODETERMINACIÓN DE LOS PUEBLOS

This article aims at researching the topic of environmental liability and its use in protecting against environmental degradation in indigenous lands. Hence, the study was based on Brazilian courts' decisions. By means of case studies, this article seeks to demonstrate the need for protection of indigenous peoples' rights, since they depend on the state to determine environmental damage occurred in their lands, in order to be compensated for, and to become actors in a development that intends to be sustainable. This article also aims at defining ancestral lands, in order to investigate how environmental liability applies to such lands. By the same token, the concepts of environmental liability and degradation are also defined so that we can, by analyzing national and international laws, identify responsibility without forgetting the cultural aspects and self-determination of indigenous peoples.