Procedures for consultations with indigenous peoples - Experiences from Norway
In addition, the 2006 guidelines foresee that there will be cases in which the State authorities are in doubt of whether there is a duty to consult. Initially, it will be natural to contact
the Sámediggi or the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion (now the Ministry of Local
Government and Modernisation) if there are such doubts. As more experience is gained with
the consultation arrangement, a practice will be established regarding the types of cases
which should entail consultations (Norway, 2006: 8–9).
2.2.4. Geographical and substantive scope of the duty to consult
In its 2005 report, the working group clearly establishes the relationship between Norway’s
duty to consult and the requirements under Convention No. 169, explaining that the duty to
consult under Article 6, paragraph 1 of the Convention covers legislative and administrative
measures.
It further explains as follows:
The substantive scope of consultations may include various issues, such as legislation,
regulations, specific or individual administrative decisions, guidelines, measures and
decisions (e.g. in governmental reports to the Norwegian Parliament, the Storting) (Norway,
2005: 2).
With regard to the geographical scope of the duty to consult, the 2005 procedures specify
the following:
The obligation to consult the Sámediggi may include all material and immaterial forms of
Sami culture, including music, theatre, literature, art, media, language, religion, cultural
heritage, immaterial property rights and traditional knowledge, place names, health and
social welfare, day care facilities for children, education, research, land ownership rights and
rights to use lands, matters concerning land administration and competing land utilization,
business development, reindeer husbandry, fisheries, agriculture, mineral exploration
and extraction activities, wind power, hydroelectric power, sustainable development,
preservation of cultural heritage, biodiversity and nature conservation.
In matters concerning the material basis for the Sami culture, including land administration,
competing land utilization, and land rights, the obligation to consult the Sámediggi is
applicable to traditional Sami areas (Norway, 2005: 2).
The procedures identify four entire counties and 21 municipalities distributed within three
other counties as traditional Sami areas.
In turn, the 2006 guidelines further clarify that, in cases related to land dispositions, land
interventions and land rights, the duty to consult will apply within traditional Sami areas. In
other types of cases, for example, those concerning language and culture, the duty to consult will not be related to geography in the same way. It is difficult to determine precisely
which the traditional Sami areas are. The Sami use and settlement area is vast, ranging from
Hedmark in the south to Finnmark in the north. Consideration must also be given to Sami
interests in areas with historical Sami settlements, where Sami culture today is weak and its
visibility has been diminished by the policy of Norwegianization (Norway, 2006: 8).
Where individual administrative decisions are concerned, the 2006 guidelines specify that,
in practical terms, the need to consult the Sámediggi concerning individual administrative
20