The Proposed Nordic Saami Convention

National and International Dimensions of Indigenous Property Rights

Nigel Bankes, Timo Koivurova, Nigel Bankes, Timo Koivurova

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781849462723
• eBook ISBN:
  9781782250715
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Droit
• Subtopic: Droit international

In 2005 an expert group representing the governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Saami parliaments of these countries agreed upon a draft text of a Nordic Saami Convention. Key parts of the text deal with the recognition of Saami land and resource rights. More recently the three governments have embarked on negotiations to move from this draft text to a final convention that may be adopted and ratified by all three countries. Negotiations commenced in the Spring of 2011 and should be completed within five years. This collection of essays explores the national and international dimensions of indigenous property rights and the draft Convention which recognises the Saami as one people divided by international boundaries.

Part one of the book seeks to provide a global and theoretical context for these developments in the Nordic countries, with a series of essays dealing with the moral and legal reasons for recognising indigenous property interests and different conceptualisations of the relationship between indigenous peoples and settler societies, including recognition, reconciliation and pluralism. Part two of the book examines some international legal issues associated with the Convention, including the background to the Convention. Part three turns to examine aspects of the recognition of Saami property interests in each of the three Nordic states, while Part four provides some comparative experiences, examining the recognition of indigenous property rights in a number of jurisdictions, including Canada, Australia and a number of South American states. An additional essay considers gender issues in relation to indigenous property rights.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Prelims
• Acknowledgements
• Summary Contents
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• Part One. Doctrinal and Theoretical Frameworks
• 1. Recognising the Property Interests of Indigenous Peoples within Settler Societies: Some Different Conceptual Approaches
• 2. Acknowledging and Accomodating Legal Pluralism: An Application to the Draft Nordic Saami Convention
• 3. The Public-Law Dimension of Indigenous Property Rights
• Part Two. The Public International Law Dimensions of the Draft Nordic Saami Convention
• 4. Can Saami Transnational Indigenous Peoples Exercise Their Self-determination in a World of Sovereign States?
• 5. The Nordic Saami Convention: The Right of a People to Control Issues of Importance to Them
• 6. Cross-border Reindeer Husbandry: Between Ancient Usage Rights and State Sovereignty
• Part Three. Saami Land and Reindeer-grazing Rights in the Three Nordic States
• 7. The Draft Nordic Saami Convention and the Assessment of Evidence of Saami Use of Land
• 8. Who Holds the Reindeer-herding Right in Sweden? A Key Issue in Legislation
• 9. The Draft Nordic Saami Convention and the Indigenous Population in Finland
• 10. The Subjects of the Draft Nordic Saami Convention
• 11. On Customary Law Among the Saami People
• Part Four. The Recognition of Indigenous Land Rights in Other Jurisdictions
• 12. The Achuar People in Ecuador: Towards Territorial and Political Autonomy
• 13. The Australian Approach to Recognising the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples: The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)
• 14. The Forms of Recognition of Indigenous Property Rights in Settler States: Modern Land Claim Agreements in Canada
• 15. The Nordic Saami Convention and the Rights of Saami Women: Lessons from Canada
• Conclusion
• Index