ABSTRACT
Against the background and context established in the previous chapters, this chapter considers a specific fundamental right: the right of property. Property has been chosen as the first substantive example of rights for several reasons. First, the defence of property interests was one of the early concerns of human rights theorists, who considered that property did not only include land, although this was important, but also the right to subsistence, as a natural law right, and in medieval rights discourse to life and liberty (Freeman 2002: 168). Second, and more practically, because property, especially land and related resources, is fundamental to identity, existence and survival in Pacific countries (Van Trease 1987: 3). For Pacific Islandpeople, as formany indigenous peoples elsewhere,1 land ismore than its physical substance or exploitable potential. People and land are linked physically and spiritually.Where a person is frommaybe farmore important than where they live; where they are buriedmay be farmore significant than where they are born; where they are brought up may be as relevant as ties of affection. It is therefore the heritage of individuals and groups. Land is also a vehicle of national identity and has in recent years been the cause of political and racial instability, notably in Fiji and Solomon Islands.
