Kampen för rätten: samernas rättsliga situation i Sverige och Norge
(2013) JURM02 20132Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Samernas rätt till renbete har länge ansetts grundad på sedvana och i svensk rätt har begreppen sedvana och av ålder länge ansetts synonyma med det rättsliga institutet urminnes hävd. I Norge har samernas rätt relaterats till det snarlika rättsinstitutet alders tids bruk. Trots att samernas rätt knutits till sedvanan har den historiskt sett ansetts ha olika innebörd. I den här uppsatsen försöker jag förklara denna skillnad med hjälp av Duncan Kennedys teori om rättens utveckling enligt tre globaliseringsprocesser.
Under den första perioden som sträcker sig mellan 1850-1914 hade kolonialiseringen av de traditionella samiska markerna redan tagit sin början. Staten premierade jordbruk och det var en utbredd tanke att renskötsel och jordbruk... (More) - Samernas rätt till renbete har länge ansetts grundad på sedvana och i svensk rätt har begreppen sedvana och av ålder länge ansetts synonyma med det rättsliga institutet urminnes hävd. I Norge har samernas rätt relaterats till det snarlika rättsinstitutet alders tids bruk. Trots att samernas rätt knutits till sedvanan har den historiskt sett ansetts ha olika innebörd. I den här uppsatsen försöker jag förklara denna skillnad med hjälp av Duncan Kennedys teori om rättens utveckling enligt tre globaliseringsprocesser.
Under den första perioden som sträcker sig mellan 1850-1914 hade kolonialiseringen av de traditionella samiska markerna redan tagit sin början. Staten premierade jordbruk och det var en utbredd tanke att renskötsel och jordbruk kunde existera sida vid sida, så visade sig inte vara fallet och vid 1800-talets mitt kom de första sammanhållna nationella regleringarna om renskötsel för att lösa konflikterna mellan jordbrukare och samer. Sedvanerätten var under den här tiden accepterad som rättskälla vilket kan hänföras till den historiska skolans lära. Den andra perioden som pågick mellan 1900-1968 färgades av tankarna på det sociala och samhället som det absolut viktigaste och det var en motreaktion på den första periodens individualism. För att åstadkomma de önskvärda sociala förändringarna var lagstiftningen det viktigaste instrumentet. Vid den här tiden hade synen på samernas renskötsel ändrats och den sågs numera som ett ”tålt bruk” i norsk rätt och ett ”lapprivilegium” i svensk rätt, och den politik som fördes var inriktad på en assimilering av samerna i välfärdsstaten. De regleringar som kom på området betecknade fortfarande samernas rätt som något grundat på sedvana, men den ansågs vara uttömmande reglerad i lagstiftningen och underordnad samhällets intressen. Tiden efter andra världskrigets slut och fram till år 2000 utgör Kennedys tredje period och den kännetecknas av de mänskliga rättigheternas intåg på den rättsliga arenan. Den viktigaste aktören under den här perioden var domaren som gjorde den för perioden karaktäristiska ad hoc-bedömningen där olika intressen vägdes mot varandra, detta stämmer väl överens med utvecklingen som skedde i Sverige och Norge. Samernas rätt ansågs inte längre uttömmande reglerad i lagen och en legitimering av samernas rätt skedde genom internationella konventioner. Den norska Høyesterett kom år 2001 med två domar som inför ett nytt synsätt i norsk rätt, kriterierna för alders tids bruk anpassades för ett samiskt brukande av marken. I en dom från år 2011 har Högsta Domstolen delvis fört ett nytt resonemang då sedvanerätten till vinterbete för renen inte anses grundad på urminnes hävd utan på en mer självständig grund men som hämtar element från den bedömning som görs vid urminnes hävd. Idag har det historiska argumentet blivit mer accepterat och det har på den senare tiden argumenterats för att utgångspunkten för bedömningen av samernas rätt ska tas vid tiden när kolonialiseringen började istället för som idag vid 1800-talets slut. (Less) - Abstract
- The Sami right to reindeer pasture has for a long time been considered to be founded on custom and in Swedish law the expressions ”custom” and ”of age” have been considered to be synonymous to the legal institute”urminnes hävd” (prescription of time immemorial). In Norway, the same Sami rights have been tied to a similar legal institute ”alders tids bruk”. Despite the constant use of these legal institutes, the Sami right to reindeer pasture has historically been given different content. In this essay I seek to explain these differences by applying Duncan Kennedy’s theory on three globalizations of law and legal thought on the legal development in the field. During the first globalization period, between 1850-1914, the colonialization of... (More)
- The Sami right to reindeer pasture has for a long time been considered to be founded on custom and in Swedish law the expressions ”custom” and ”of age” have been considered to be synonymous to the legal institute”urminnes hävd” (prescription of time immemorial). In Norway, the same Sami rights have been tied to a similar legal institute ”alders tids bruk”. Despite the constant use of these legal institutes, the Sami right to reindeer pasture has historically been given different content. In this essay I seek to explain these differences by applying Duncan Kennedy’s theory on three globalizations of law and legal thought on the legal development in the field. During the first globalization period, between 1850-1914, the colonialization of the traditional Sami land had already begun. The State promoted agriculture and a common thought was that the reindeer keeping and the farming could exist side by side, a presupposition that proved to be wrong. By the middle of the 19th century the first national codifications concerning reindeer keeping appeared in an attempt to solve the conflicts between, the farmers and the Sami. Customary law was at this point in time accepted as a source of law, in alignment with the teachings of the German Historical School. The second globalization period, between 1900-1968, was colored by the thoughts of social conditions and society as the most important entities and was a counter-reaction to the individualism of the first period. To achieve the desired social changes, the legislation was the most important instrument. By this time the attitude towards the Sami reindeer keeping had changed in legal discourse and it was seen as a ”tolerated usage ” in Norwegian law and as a ”privilege” in Swedish law. Policies were designed to assimilate the Sami in the welfare state. The legislation that came during this time did still regard the Sami rights as founded on customary law, but the legislation was seen as depletive and it was suborordinated to the interests of society.The time lapse between the end of the Second World War and year 2000 constitutes Kennedy’s third globalization period. This period is characterized by the appearance of the human rights doctrine. The most important legal actor during this period was the judge who made the ad-hoc evaluation where different interests were weighed against each other, this comports well with the Swedish and Norwegian developments. Sami rights were no longer thought to be exclusively found in the legislation and there was a legitimization of Sami rights through international conventions. The Norwegian Supreme Court, ” Høyesterett ”, applied a new reasoning in two rulings in 2001, where the criteria of ”alders tids bruk” was adapted to Sami usage of the land. In a judgement from 2011, the Swedish Supreme Court ”Högsta Domstolen” deployed a partly new way of reasoning that derived the right to winter reindeer pasture from customary law instead of the institute ”urminnes hävd”. Today the historical argument has been more widely accepted and a new viewpoint is advocated in which the starting-point, when evaluating Sami claims to their traditional lands, should be taken at the time of the start of colonialization as opposed to the current reference back to the end of the 19th century. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4230847
- author
- Themner, Elsa LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Fighting for Rights: the Legal Situation of the Sami in Sweden and Norway
- course
- JURM02 20132
- year
- 2013
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- komparativ rätt, rättshistoria, sedvanerätt, samerätt
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 4230847
- date added to LUP
- 2014-01-24 10:58:19
- date last changed
- 2014-01-24 10:58:19
@misc{4230847,
abstract = {{The Sami right to reindeer pasture has for a long time been considered to be founded on custom and in Swedish law the expressions ”custom” and ”of age” have been considered to be synonymous to the legal institute”urminnes hävd” (prescription of time immemorial). In Norway, the same Sami rights have been tied to a similar legal institute ”alders tids bruk”. Despite the constant use of these legal institutes, the Sami right to reindeer pasture has historically been given different content. In this essay I seek to explain these differences by applying Duncan Kennedy’s theory on three globalizations of law and legal thought on the legal development in the field. During the first globalization period, between 1850-1914, the colonialization of the traditional Sami land had already begun. The State promoted agriculture and a common thought was that the reindeer keeping and the farming could exist side by side, a presupposition that proved to be wrong. By the middle of the 19th century the first national codifications concerning reindeer keeping appeared in an attempt to solve the conflicts between, the farmers and the Sami. Customary law was at this point in time accepted as a source of law, in alignment with the teachings of the German Historical School. The second globalization period, between 1900-1968, was colored by the thoughts of social conditions and society as the most important entities and was a counter-reaction to the individualism of the first period. To achieve the desired social changes, the legislation was the most important instrument. By this time the attitude towards the Sami reindeer keeping had changed in legal discourse and it was seen as a ”tolerated usage ” in Norwegian law and as a ”privilege” in Swedish law. Policies were designed to assimilate the Sami in the welfare state. The legislation that came during this time did still regard the Sami rights as founded on customary law, but the legislation was seen as depletive and it was suborordinated to the interests of society.The time lapse between the end of the Second World War and year 2000 constitutes Kennedy’s third globalization period. This period is characterized by the appearance of the human rights doctrine. The most important legal actor during this period was the judge who made the ad-hoc evaluation where different interests were weighed against each other, this comports well with the Swedish and Norwegian developments. Sami rights were no longer thought to be exclusively found in the legislation and there was a legitimization of Sami rights through international conventions. The Norwegian Supreme Court, ” Høyesterett ”, applied a new reasoning in two rulings in 2001, where the criteria of ”alders tids bruk” was adapted to Sami usage of the land. In a judgement from 2011, the Swedish Supreme Court ”Högsta Domstolen” deployed a partly new way of reasoning that derived the right to winter reindeer pasture from customary law instead of the institute ”urminnes hävd”. Today the historical argument has been more widely accepted and a new viewpoint is advocated in which the starting-point, when evaluating Sami claims to their traditional lands, should be taken at the time of the start of colonialization as opposed to the current reference back to the end of the 19th century.}},
author = {{Themner, Elsa}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Kampen för rätten: samernas rättsliga situation i Sverige och Norge}},
year = {{2013}},
}