Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case
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...
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University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Law
2021
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ftjarlp:oai:nordicopenaccess.no:article/2678 2023-12-31T10:01:42+01:00 Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case Allard, Christina Brännström, Malin 2021-03-04 application/pdf text/html application/epub+zip text/xml https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678 https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v12.2678 eng eng University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Law https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5158 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5159 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5160 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5161 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678 doi:10.23865/arctic.v12.2678 Copyright (c) 2021 Christina Allard, Malin Brännström https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Arctic Review on Law and Politics; Vol. 12 (2021); 56-79 2387-4562 Sami land rights Indigenous peoples Indigenous rights hunting fishing immemorial prescription Indigenous customary law Indigenous custom Supreme Court info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2021 ftjarlp https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v12.2678 2023-12-06T23:52:56Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic review on law and politics sami Lapland Arctic Review on Law and Politics Arctic Review on Law and Politics 12 0 56 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Arctic Review on Law and Politics |
op_collection_id |
ftjarlp |
language |
English |
topic |
Sami land rights Indigenous peoples Indigenous rights hunting fishing immemorial prescription Indigenous customary law Indigenous custom Supreme Court |
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Sami land rights Indigenous peoples Indigenous rights hunting fishing immemorial prescription Indigenous customary law Indigenous custom Supreme Court Allard, Christina Brännström, Malin Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case |
topic_facet |
Sami land rights Indigenous peoples Indigenous rights hunting fishing immemorial prescription Indigenous customary law Indigenous custom Supreme Court |
description |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Allard, Christina Brännström, Malin |
author_facet |
Allard, Christina Brännström, Malin |
author_sort |
Allard, Christina |
title |
Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case |
title_short |
Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case |
title_full |
Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case |
title_fullStr |
Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case |
title_full_unstemmed |
Girjas Reindeer Herding Community v. Sweden: Analysing the Merits of the Girjas Case |
title_sort |
girjas reindeer herding community v. sweden: analysing the merits of the girjas case |
publisher |
University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Law |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678 https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v12.2678 |
genre |
Arctic Arctic review on law and politics sami Lapland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic review on law and politics sami Lapland |
op_source |
Arctic Review on Law and Politics; Vol. 12 (2021); 56-79 2387-4562 |
op_relation |
https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5158 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5159 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5160 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678/5161 https://arcticreview.no/index.php/arctic/article/view/2678 doi:10.23865/arctic.v12.2678 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2021 Christina Allard, Malin Brännström https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v12.2678 |
container_title |
Arctic Review on Law and Politics |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
0 |
container_start_page |
56 |
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