[JURIST] The Brazilian Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday indicated that they will rule in favor of indigenous groups in a land dispute, but postponed [press release, in Portuguese] a final decision on the case. Eight of 11 judges voted in favor of evicting a group of non-indigenous farmers from an Amazonian reservation, but the case was postponed when one judge requested more time to deliberate. A final ruling is not expected until next year. Indigenous people are already celebrating a victory [Estadao report, in Portuguese] with eight votes in their favor.

The dispute is over a large area of land in northern Brazil known as Raposa Serra do Sol. Home to 20,000 indigenous people, it was identified as a reservation [BBC report] in 2005. The indigenous people want the approximately 200 non-indigenous rice producers who live and work on the land to be removed.