A/HRC/18/35/Add.2
local level, setting a significant example for the other Nordic countries. The act recognizes
that Sami people and others, through long use of land and water, have acquired rights to
land and natural resources in Finnmark. Under the act, 95 per cent of the landmass of
Finnmark (an area approximately the size of Denmark) was transferred from State to local
ownership, and the Finnmarkseiendommen, or the Finnmark Estate, was established as the
landowner. While the Finnmark Act is an important step towards advancing Sami selfdetermination and control over lands and resources, some Sami representatives have
characterized the law as not being fully protective of Sami self-determination and land and
resource rights, principally for reasons to do with the make-up of the board of the Finnmark
Estate, whose members are appointed both by the Finnmark County Council and the
Norwegian Sami Parliament. It should be noted, however, that the Finnmark Act is a
compromise text that was crafted to accommodate a diversity of Sami and non-Sami
interests in the County, and that it was endorsed by the Sami Parliament. The extent to
which it genuinely advances Sami self-determination and resource rights will be determined
by its implementation over time.
45.
The Special Rapporteur also notes that concern has been repeatedly expressed that
the Finnmark Act does not adequately address the particularly vulnerable situation of the
East Sami people, a Sami sub-group that is small in number and whose distinct language
and cultural characteristics are threatened. In this connection, the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that Norway take further steps to adopt
special and concrete measures to ensure the adequate development and protection of certain
highly vulnerable indigenous groups, namely the East Sami people.28 The Special
Rapporteur notes that Norway has indicated that “measures will be considered in close
consultation with the Sámi Parliament and representatives from the East Sámi”29 and that
the mandate of the Finnmark Commission includes investigating the rights of all inhabitants
of Finnmark to lands and natural resources, including those of the East Sami.
B.
Rights to lands, waters and natural resources
1.
Recognition of land and resource rights
46.
The history of Sami people in the Nordic region is marked by the progressive loss of
their lands and natural resources, especially lands that are essential to reindeer herding. In
the past, Nordic States operated under the assumption that Sami people’s nomadic land use,
which covers large areas and may vary from year to year depending on climate and
ecological factors, has not given rise to legal rights over lands and resources.
47.
The Nordic States have gradually developed some protections for Sami lands and
reindeer herding activities, and today significant tracts of land are continuously used for
reindeer herding. Under each of the Nordic countries’ reindeer herding legislation, Sami
people have rights to use lands and resources for reindeer herding activities, although as
noted above, in Finland reindeer husbandry is not specifically reserved for Sami. Also,
although Sami usufruct rights to land are legally recognized, in practice, these rights often
yield to competing interests. Finally, while Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish law recognize
in principle that Sami land use can result in ownership rights to land, it has been difficult
for the Sami people to realize such rights in practice.
48.
In Norway, the Finnmark Act provides a potential foundation and mechanism for the
identification and effective protection of Sami land and resource rights in Finnmark
28
29
CERD/C/NOR/CO/18, para. 17.
CERD/C/NOR/CO/18/Add.1, para. 5.
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