ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the treatment by the Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) of Indigenous peoples and local communities' laws, in particular their customary laws and protocols, in the development of international instruments for the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. It examines the legal status of customary law and its role in protection of traditional knowledge, and also examines the manner in which customary law has been addressed in the IGC process and its treatment in the IGC draft instruments. The chapter considers the role of biocultural protocols and intercultural justice in the development of law and policy for the protection of traditional knowledge. It describes the term 'Indigenous peoples and local communities' will be used, except when referring to specific text employing the term 'indigenous and local communities' in the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization.
