Usos y costumbres is a legal term denoting indigenous customary law in Latin America. Since the era of Spanish colonialism, authorities have recognized local forms of rulership, self governance, and juridical practice, with varying degrees of acceptance and formality. The term is often used in English without translation.

Usos y costumbres are used by numerous indigenous peoples in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, and other countries to govern water rights, in criminal and civil conflicts, to elect their representatives to regional and national bodies.

Under Spanish colonial rule

Spanish colonial authorities in the Americas were ordered to investigate the traditions and customs of indigenous communities, and to apply these traditions to disputes among Indian subjects. Scholar José Rabasa traces the term usos y costumbres to the New Laws of 1542, which ordered traditional procedures be used in dealings with Indians rather than "ordinary" Spanish legal proceedings. The division of legal authority is associated with notion of a Republic of Indians subject to distinct legal norms under Spanish colonial rule. According to Rabasa, this division "at once protects Indian communities from Spaniards, criollos, and mestizos, and alienates Indians in a separate republic, in a structure not unlike apartheid."

Contemporary examples

In Mexico, usos y costumbres are widely used by indigenous communities and are officially recognized in Oaxaca (for 412 of 570 municipalities) and Sonora (for the Yaqui reservation) states. In Guatemala, Maya

Maya peoples

The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...

 communities have used a variety of community-oriented or informal mechanisms for conflict resolution

Conflict resolution

Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...

, and is commonly referred to as Maya justice or usos y costumbres. In Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, the 1991 Constitution recognizes locally elected cabildos, chosen through usos y costumbres, as the governing authorities of indigenous reserves and the validity of customary law in these territories.

Bolivia

In Bolivia, indigenous norms for self-governance, justice, and administration of territory are extensively recognized by the 2009 Constitution, which defines the country as plurinational. This recognition builds on earlier incorporation of indigenous customary law into the Bolivian legal system. In eight of the country's nine departments

Departments of Bolivia

Bolivia is divided into nine departments . Each of the departments is subdivided into provinces , which are further subdivided into municipalities ....

, minority indigenous peoples (and in La Paz

La Paz Department

La Paz Department may refer to:* Argentina** La Paz Department, Catamarca** La Paz Department, Entre Ríos** La Paz Department, Mendoza* La Paz Department, Bolivia* La Paz Department * La Paz Department...

, Afro-Bolivians

Afro Bolivian

Afro Bolivians are Bolivians of African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Bolivia thought to emanate from this community. The term can refer to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Bolivian society such as religion, music, language, the arts, and class...

) elect representatives to the Departmental Assembly through customary procedures.

Native Community Lands

Native Community Lands

Native Community Lands , according to Bolivian law, are territories held by indigenous people through collective title. The creation of these territories has been a major goal of Bolivian indigenous movements and a political initiative pursued by both neoliberal and indigenous-identified national...

 , as recognized by the 1994 Constitutional reform, are indigenous territories whose governance is determined by usos y costumbres. , TCOs are being included under the Indigenous Originary Campesino Autonomy regime. The eleven municipalities

Municipalities of Bolivia

Municipalities in Bolivia are administrative divisions of the entire national territory governed by local elections. Municipalities are the third level of administrative divisions, below departments and provinces. Some of the provinces consist of only one municipality...

 also under this regime may choose to use usos y costumbres for their internal governance. Indigenous water rights, governed by usos y costumbres, were recognized by amendments to Bolivia's Law 2029 following the 2000 Water War

2000 Cochabamba protests

The Cochabamba protests of 2000, also known as the "Cochabamba Water Wars", were a series of protests that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia's third largest city, between January 1999 and April 2000 in response to multinational participation in the infrastructure and management of the city's...

.