grant adequate compensation therefor.” In so doing, the modification is complete. This is a pro-active move that has the positive effect of restoring justice to a community that has long been denied of their rights by the narrow interpretation of natural resource laws. The judge added that, “I am aware that ordinarily we, the judges, are not permitted by our own jurisprudence, to do this. But here you have a direction by the supreme law of the Federation (the Federal Constitution) that such modification as the present, must be done.” The judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of Sagong Tasi and 6 Ors v Kerajaan Negeri Selangor and 3 Ors is without doubt a landmark decision in many aspects. It also shows that there is enough in our local laws to protect the rights of the Orang Asli to their traditional lands and resources ­—if we only want to. 1.5 INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS AND DECLARATIONS SPECIFIC TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Notwithstanding the clear protection of Orang Asli rights in the Federal Constitution and the correct interpretation of the Aboriginal Peoples Act, as fleshed out by the 1961 Policy Statement, the rights of the Orang Asli are also recognised in international documents such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 (1989). The two documents are the result of a long deliberation, negotiation and education process that saw the need to protect the rights of indigenous peoples who have invariably become marginalized in nation states with dominant mainstream societies. Most of the rights enumerated in these international documents are similar to those enshrined in our Federal ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS 15