2. Contents of the consultation procedures
sible State authority must, based on its knowledge about the issue, indicate which Sami
interests could be affected in the given case. For its part, the Sámediggi has the responsibility to provide feedback on this as soon as possible, and also on whether or not the case raises
other issues of significance for Sami interests.
According to the guidelines, good and effective consultations require great openness regarding the various aspects of the case. For that reason, relevant and full information must be
provided. The authorities are responsible for providing the information in a way that ensures
that the contents of the case are understood. In some cases this may mean that the information must be provided in the Sami language.
With regard to the requirement for complete information, the guidelines indicate that the
Sámediggi must receive information about those aspects that are essential for its full understanding of the case and for it to form an opinion on a solid basis. Where legislative proposals of particular significance for Sami culture are concerned, it must be ensured that the
Sámediggi has sight of the entire bill before taking a position on it (Norway, 2006: 8–9).
Further, in line with Article 7, paragraph 3, of Convention No. 169 regarding impact
assessments,6 the guidelines establish that, in some cases, there will be a duty to assess
the impact of plans and measures which may have a significant effect on the environment,
natural resources or society, in accordance with Norwegian law.
It is recognized, however, that the public disclosure of preliminary exchanges may not always
be conducive to agreement. The Public Disclosure Act (Offentleglova), which entered into
force on 1 January 2009, established in its Article 19 that documents that are exchanged
between State institutions and the Sámediggi and Sami organizations as part of consultations in accordance with ILO Convention No. 169 may be exempted from public disclosure
(Norway, 2009, Article 19).
Justifying the need for such an exemption, the 2006 guidelines explain that the possibility
of exempting documents from public disclosure is likely to be a prerequisite for exchanges
of information about ideas and preliminary positions at an early stage in the processing of
a case. It is, however, a requirement that the final positions of the parties shall be publicly
disclosed (Norway, 2006: 9).
The guidelines also stipulate that minutes of the biannual meetings should be issued, unless
both parties agree that this is not necessary. In addition, in cases where it is particularly
important to document that agreement has been achieved, a record should also be made of
telephone conversations (Norway, 2006: 13).
Lastly, the consultation procedures strongly underline the need to build up a solid knowledge base to inform the consultation and decision-making processes, in accordance with
6
Article 7(3) of Convention No. 169 establishes that the “Governments shall ensure that, whenever appropriate, studies
are carried out, in co-operation with the peoples concerned, to assess the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental
impact on them of planned development activities. The results of these studies shall be considered as fundamental
criteria for the implementation of these activities” (ILO, 1989).
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