Brazil top court rejects time limit on Indigenous land claims

Brazil’s Supreme Court has rejected a cut-off date limiting Indigenous land claims, which was sought by the farm lobby. The court deemed the restriction unconstitutional, with six justices voting against it. Indigenous groups have celebrated the decision, as it will protect their communities from land-grabbers and illegal loggers. The ruling may also give President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva grounds to veto a bill that aims to limit new reservations to land occupied by native communities in 1988. The farm lobby wants the cut-off date to secure non-Indigenous farmers’ claims to land.