The significance of Sámi rights in the Nordic countries-an introduction

• Main Authors: Cambou, Dorothée, Ravna, Øyvind
• Other Authors: Faculty of Law
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: 513 Law; Norway; sami; Sámi; Sapmi
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/571389

Sapmi, the motherland of the Sami people, is situated in four states: Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. Lack of protection is particularly visible when it comes to interventions in pastures and nature areas caused by extractive industries and the establishment of wind power plants. Addressing these issues has for several years been under the focus of the Nordic Research Network for Sámi and Indigenous Law (NORSIL). In effect, governments are still lagging in terms of taking action for implementing the court decisions, and, as already mentioned and noted in several chapters, there remains discrepancies between the promises of national legislations and the realisation of the rights of the Sámi people in practice. The development of the protection of Sami culture over the last decades coupled with the novelty of the court rulings in the Nordic states, demonstrate that changes are taking place at the judicial levels. Peer reviewed