Keynote

Ledare för kommittén

Boksläpp av "Renskötselrätt i nordisk belysning" och samtal med advokat Camilla Wikland

Presentation under ett endags-seminarium "Sedvanerättens betydelse för utvecklingen av renskötselrätten", anordnad av Juridiska fakulteten, Umeå universitet.

För anställning av lektorer till juridiska fakulteten i Tromsö

Licentiate thesis “Governing Ecologies. Species protection in overlapping and contiguous legal regimes” by Yaffa Epstein

Vetenskapslunchi regi av LTU.

Prisutdelning vid Umeå Universitets vårhögtid

Mineralutvinning i traditionella samiska områden orsakar markanvändningskonflikter, och tillståndsprocesserna är komplicerade och långdragna. Det gäller i Norge såväl som i Sverige. Samernas status som urfolk och vilka hänsyn som ska tas till samiska intressen och rättigheter vid beslutsprocesserna är något oklara och flera lagar samverkar. Denna artikel syftar till att redogöra för de norskareglerna som avser att skydda samiska intressen och rättigheter i tillståndsprocessen, med huvudfokuspå den norska minerallagen. Artikeln illustrerar även hur reglerna har tillämpats i praktiken genom det kontroversiella gruvprojektet Nussir som 2019 fått grönt ljus för att starta upp gruvdrifti Finnmark, där specifika regler för att skydda samiska intressen gäller vilka avser att genomföra kraven från ILO-konventionen 169 om ursprungsfolkoch stamfolk i självstyrande länder. Reglernastillämpning och Nussir-gruvan diskuteras sedan bl.a. avseende vad som krävs för att gruvbolag ska kunna bedriva verksamhet parallellt med samisk renskötsel. Det visar sig att långtgående villkor kan ställas i förhållande till driftkoncessionen för att en samexistens ska vara möjlig. Även om de berörda renbetesdistrikten menade att anpassningarna av gruvverksamheten inte var tillräckliga – renskötseln är hårt trängd av andra befintligaoch planerade verksamheter i området – indikerar beslutet ändå på vad som är ”acceptabelt” och genomvillkoren institutionaliseras social hållbarhet och de kostnader som detta medför för gruvdrift i Sápmi.

Nordiskt forskningsnätverk. Projektledare: Chrisitna Allard

The Indigenous Sami people traditionally live in what is now Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. A crucial matter for Indigenous peoples, including the Sami living in Sweden, is that of the recognition of their land rights and access to their traditional lands. This article’s aim is to present and analyse recent case law developments in Sweden that relate to the recognition and protection of Sami land rights, specifically the Girjas and Talma cases, through legal-scientific and textual analyses and relevant legal literature. Both cases concern Sami reindeer herding rights in Sweden and the Swedish state as defendant. These cases raise complex legal issues and historical circumstances, demonstrating the need for the Swedish state to treat Sami land rights as equal to other civil rights in Swedish society, in line with international human rights law.

This chapter illustrates how general national characteristics within law play a role in how Sami legal matters are defined and resolved and explains the differences in the treatment of these issues in the Scandinavian countries. It discusses three topics: judicial review and law-making functions of the Supreme Courts, the recognition of Sami land rights, and the acceptance of customary law. Norwegian law recognizes a number of different proprietary concepts related to protracted uses, including immemorial usage, prescription, ‘established privileges’ and local customary law. The Sami legal culture has been, and still is, a marginalized part of the Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish dominant laws. The recognition of custom may come in two ways: either through recognition of customary law as a legal source by national law and/or through international human rights law. The Norwegian Supreme Court enjoys a greater relative independence than the Supreme Courts of the East Nordic countries and Norway has a more flexible system of property law.

Territorial rights are important for the Sámi people, as they are for all indigenous peoples. Land is the asset which supports the Sámi culture and responsible for its long-standing survival. This article compares property laws in Norway, Sweden and Finland as to how Sámi rights to land and natural resources are articulated and recognized. These rights are based on old doctrines: ‘immemorial usage’ in Norway and ‘immemorial prescription’ in Sweden and Finland. Although the doctrines are generally regarded as equivalent, the article discusses a few significant differences. Subsequently the basic principles underpinning the two doctrines are analyzed, contrasted and discussed, with particular focus on reindeer herding rights.

Although the standard of consulting Indigenous peoples in decisions affecting them is well rooted internationally as well as in national legal systems, different views and patterns of problems are associated with the concept and its practice. This paper briefly analyses and contrasts the duty to consult Indigenous peoples through a comparison of the three Nordic countries Norway, Finland and Sweden, and Canada. Based on domestic legal sources, the focus of the paper is to explore the legal foundation that has given rise to the specific set of rules for the duty to consult, that is, the rationale behind the evolving of the rules. The first finding is that the rules differ among the three Nordic countries, with Sweden being the only country that lacks specific rules. Secondly, whereas Canada has developed its own duty to consult primarily through domestic case law, in the Nordic countries, duty to consult is related to international law obligations. Consultation duties that have evolved from domestic law may be easier to accept than “foreign” regulations imposed on national legal systems. This could explain the reluctance among the Nordic States to accept specific consultations with the Sami Parliament and other Sami groups, particularly in Sweden.

The needs of indigenous peoples are related to land, water and other natural resources for sustaining a more or less traditional livelihood. Such needs typically compete with other societal interests. There are, on the one hand, specific interests in exploiting natural resources within traditional indigenous areas, while, on the other hand, concerns regarding conservation and preservation measures of valuable nature areas. This thesis contains two perspectives: an environmental protection perspective and a customary rights perspective. The thesis also contains a comparison of certain aspects of the law in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada and Sweden. Although the examination has a comparative approach, Swedish law is in prime focus. The objective is twofold. On the one hand, it includes an analysis of the interface between Saami customary rights, foremost the reindeer herding right, and environmental protection and natural resources legislation. On the other, it analyses and discusses ways in which the legislation may contribute to a sustainable use of land and natural resources within the reindeer herding area in Sweden. In this way, the second part of the objective is a succession of the former. It includes, above all, discussions de lege ferenda with the focus on Swedish environmental law. Evidently, it is the reindeer herding area per se that is in prime focus. Inherent in the examination as a whole, there are, hence, sustainability aspects. A correct comprehension of Saami customary rights is also important to the promotion of a sustainable use of the reindeer herding area. The interrelation of the two legal areas, environmental/natural resources law and aspects of the indigenous law, is, however, more evident with respect to the New Zealand and Canadian laws. Nevertheless, the connection also exists in a Swedish legal context, even though not as emphasised. Hence, there may be a call for a greater interrelation of these two legal areas. While general environmental requirements on the reindeer husbandry are abundant, specific requirements relating to regional or local circumstances are scarce. Such specific provisions may be designed to promote sustainability objectives better and, at the same time, to take into account specific Saami interests. Given the many conflicting land uses in the reindeer herding area, a stricter order of preferences taken on a strategic level generally provides advantages. Now, decisions are commonly left to be solved on a case by case basis with little guidance. Despite many shortcomings in specific legislation, above all, a regional and comprehensive environmental planning would greatly support the goal of sustainable uses of the land and resources in the area.

For the first time in the Swedish Supreme Court, a small Sami reindeer herding community has won an important victory affirming the community’s small game hunting and fishing rights. Because of protracted use and the concept of immemorial prescription, the Court recognised the community’s exclusive hunting and fishing rights, including the right to lease these rights to others. Such leases have long been prohibited by legislation and the State has retained its powers to administer such leases. This case signifies a considerable development in the area of Sami law. In its decision, the Supreme Court made some adjustments to the age-old doctrine of immemorial prescription, and provided insights into how historic evidence should be evaluated when the claimant is an Indigenous people. A common motivator for these adjustments is an enhanced awareness of international standards protecting Indigenous peoples and minorities. Even ILO Convention No. 169 – the only legally binding convention concerning Indigenous rights, but which Sweden has not yet ratified – is relevant when it comes to evaluating Sami customary uses. The Court addressed the problem of gaps in the historical material and used evidence from other parts of Swedish Lapland and adjacent time-periods, making reasonable assumptions to fill in these gaps. The Court imposes on the State the burden of proof regarding the extinguishment of already established Sami rights, as well as proof that extinguishment by legislation or expropriation, is “clear and definitive”. These conditions were not met in this case.

I januari i år avgjorde Högsta domstolen det s.k. Girjasmålet, där rätten attupplåta småviltsjakt och fiske i fjällområdena prövats. Stridigheter omhuruvida det är staten eller samebyn som har rätt att göra sådana upplåtelserhar pågått i decennier och har inte gått att lösa politiskt. I artikelnanalyseras domen och vilka konsekvenser den får; domens längd och komplexitetmotiverar en längre rättsfallsanalys. Det konstateras att domen klargörviktiga förhållanden såsom att samiska markrättigheter upparbetats genomurminnes hävd och att ILO:s konvention nr 169 om urfolks rättigheteri delar är bindande även om den inte har ratificerats. Domen innebär att enbetydande rättsutveckling skett inom det samerättsliga området.

Mine developments in Indigenous territories risk disrupting Indigenous cultures and their economies, including spiraling already high levels of conflict. This is the situation in Canada, Sweden, and Norway, as elsewhere, and is fostered by current state legal framework that reflect historical trajectories, although circumstances are gradually changing. Promising institutional changes have taken place in British Columbia (BC), Canada, with respect to new legislative reforms. Notably, new legislation from 2019 intends to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in the province, by promoting consent-based and collaborative decision-making mechanisms. New environmental assessment legislation is another example; this legislation includes early engagement, collaborative decision-making, and Indigenous-led assessments. The article’s aim is, first, to analyze how Indigenous communities can influence and engage in the mining permitting system of BC, and, secondly, to highlight the positive features of the BC system using a comparative lens to identify opportunities for Sweden and Norway regarding mining permitting and Indigenous rights. Applying a legal-scientific and comparative analysis, the article analyzes traditional legal sources. The article concludes that the strong points that the BC regime could offer the two Nordic countries are: the concept of reconciliation, incorporation of UNDRIP, the spectrum of consultation and engagement approaches, and the structure of environmental assessments. All three jurisdictions, however, struggle with balancing mine developments and securing Indigenous authority and influence over land uses in their traditional territories.