PT159.S4.P3.Q20

PrepTest 159 - Section 4 - Passage 3 - Question 20

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The following passage was adapted from an article published in 1998.

P1

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Introduce topic · Mayan lawsuit seeking protection of Mayan rights
Belize allowed logging on lands occupied by Mayans.
P2

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Basis of lawsuit · Common law and international law
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Common law · Based on custom and precedent from analogous cases
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Reliance on other jurisdictions · Mayans’ argument relies on other jurisdictions, since courts in Belize haven’t ruled on indigenous rights
This approach is consistent with the custom of courts in Belize.
P3

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International law · Indigenous rights are also based on norms of the world community
As an example, the high court of Australia recognized these rights as protected by the ICCPR.
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Author’s opinion · Belize’s courts should also look to the ICCPR
P4

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Author’s conclusion · There should be a presumption in favor of recognizing indigenous rights in Belize
Belize is free to decide differently from other jurisdictions regarding indigenous rights, but they shouldn’t.
Passage Style
Single position
Show answer
20.

Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ ████████ ████████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████

a

There are several ███████ █████ █████ ███████ ███ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ███ ████ ██████████ ██████████ ███████

The author's argument is based on common law, because Belize is a common-law jurisdiction. It's not clear why non-common-law countries would be relevant.

6%
b

Many of the ███████ ████ ████ ██████████ ██████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ████ ████ █████████

The recency of recognition is irrelevant. What matters is whether common law supports recognizing indigenous rights. How many years ago common law countries began to recognize those rights has no clear impact.

2%
c

While not all ██████████ █████████████ ████ ██████████ ██████████ ███████ █████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██████████ ████████████ ████ ███ ███████████ ██ ████ ███████

This strengthens the author's position by ruling out one powerful objection. What if there were some common-law countries with precedent denying recognition of indigenous rights? Then it's not so clear that the courts in Belize should find a presumption in favor of such rights. (C) strengthens by defending the author's position against this possibility.

73%
d

Many of the ███████ ████ ████ ██████ ██ █████████ ██████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ██████ █████████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ██████████ ███████

The author's argument is that courts in Belize should adopt a presumption in favor of indigenous rights, because of common-law. Whether other countries have failed to recognize indigenous rights would matter only if they are also common-law countries. (D) doesn't say whether these countries are common-law countries.

14%
e

Many nations grant █████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ████ ████ █████ ███ █████████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ ████ ██████████ ███ █████████████ ███████████ ████ █████ █████ ███ ██████████

The author's argument is that courts in Belize should adopt a presumption in favor of indigenous rights, because of common-law. Whether other nations grant rights to indigenous populations over lands and resources is relevant only if those other nations are also common-law countries. (E) doesn't say whether these countries are common-law countries.

5%

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