”What local people?” - En kritisk granskning av den samiska konsultationsordningen i ljuset av gruvärenden
(2022) LAGF03 20221Faculty of Law
Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Samernas traditionella landområde Sápmi breder ut sig över norra Norge, Sverige, Finland och Kolahalvön i Ryssland, och omfattar därmed stora delar av Sveriges mest mineralrika områden. Storskaliga utvinningsprojekt har varit föremål för flera intensiva konflikter mellan samerna och staten, och gett upphov till såväl lokala protestaktioner som nationell debatt. I egenskap av urfolk åtnjuter samerna ett antal folkrättsligt grundade rättigheter, däribland rätten till konsultation i frågor som kan få påverkan för dem. Sverige har under många år mottagit omfattande kritik från internationella granskningsorgan över bristande implementering av rättigheten. Mot bakgrund av detta infördes en konsultationsordning i januari 2022, som stadgar en... (More)
- Samernas traditionella landområde Sápmi breder ut sig över norra Norge, Sverige, Finland och Kolahalvön i Ryssland, och omfattar därmed stora delar av Sveriges mest mineralrika områden. Storskaliga utvinningsprojekt har varit föremål för flera intensiva konflikter mellan samerna och staten, och gett upphov till såväl lokala protestaktioner som nationell debatt. I egenskap av urfolk åtnjuter samerna ett antal folkrättsligt grundade rättigheter, däribland rätten till konsultation i frågor som kan få påverkan för dem. Sverige har under många år mottagit omfattande kritik från internationella granskningsorgan över bristande implementering av rättigheten. Mot bakgrund av detta infördes en konsultationsordning i januari 2022, som stadgar en konsultationsskyldighet för regeringen, myndigheter, regioner och kommuner i frågor som kan få ”särskild betydelse” för samerna.
Denna uppsats syftar till att granska konsultationsordningen i kontexten mineralutvinning i Sápmi. Efter en presentation av rättsläget och konsultationsordningen appliceras dessa bestämmelser på tillståndsprocesser för gruvverksamhet. Granskningen utgår från ett kritiskt perspektiv och kombinerar rättsdogmatisk och rättsanalytisk metod för att belysa möjliga problem med konsultationslagens utformning.
Av utredningen framgår att bedömningen av vilka frågor som är av särskild betydelse för samerna riskerar att vålla flertalet problem vid tillämpningen. Avsaknaden av särskilda bestämmelser för överklagande och rättsföljd försvårar vidare samernas möjligheter att utkräva sin rätt. Dessutom kan en förhållandevis sen konsultationstidpunkt, liksom vagheter och bristande vägledning nämnas som genomgående problem. I arbetets avslutande analys dras slutsatsen att medan konsultationsordningen har stärkt samernas rätt till inflytande, finns flera bestämmelser vars utformning hindrar lagen från att få det genomslag som lagstiftaren avsett och remissinstanser och internationella granskningsorgan förespråkat. (Less) - Abstract
- Sápmi, the traditional lands of the indigenous Sami people, expands across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and into the Russian Kola Peninsula. It contains several of Sweden’s major mineral deposits. Large-scale extraction projects have been the subject of intense conflicts between the Sami and the Swedish state and has given rise to local protests as well as nation-wide political debate. Indigenous peoples’ right to be consulted in matters that may affect their rights is well established in international law. For many years, Sweden’s failure to thoroughly implement and enshrine this right has been subject to considerable international criticism. Consequently, a law was adopted in January 2022, obliging the government, government agencies... (More)
- Sápmi, the traditional lands of the indigenous Sami people, expands across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and into the Russian Kola Peninsula. It contains several of Sweden’s major mineral deposits. Large-scale extraction projects have been the subject of intense conflicts between the Sami and the Swedish state and has given rise to local protests as well as nation-wide political debate. Indigenous peoples’ right to be consulted in matters that may affect their rights is well established in international law. For many years, Sweden’s failure to thoroughly implement and enshrine this right has been subject to considerable international criticism. Consequently, a law was adopted in January 2022, obliging the government, government agencies and municipalities to consult representatives of the Sami in matters of special significance (Swedish: “särskild betydelse”) to them.
This essay aims to review the Sami Consultation Law within the context of mineral extraction in Sápmi. Following an introduction of the law and other law applicable to mining, the provisions of the Sami Consultation Law are applied to mining permit processes. The review is made from a critical perspective to illustrate problems that may arise when the law is put into practice.
The study finds that the difficult assessment of whether an issue is of special significance to the Sami may prove problematic. The absence of specific mechanisms of appeal and regulations regarding legal consequences further obstruct the Sami representative’s possibilities to claim their rights. Additional problems include the timing of consultation, as well as vague and unclear wording. In the final analysis, the conclusion drawn is that while the Sami Consultation Law has indeed strengthened the Sami’s right of consultation, there are several issues that may prevent the law from gaining its intended legal impact. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9081109
- author
- Vestman, Wilma LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- förvaltningsrätt, urfolk, urfolksrätt, indigenous peoples, indigenous rights, mineralutvinning, minerallagen
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9081109
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-28 11:23:57
- date last changed
- 2022-06-28 11:23:57
@misc{9081109,
abstract = {{Sápmi, the traditional lands of the indigenous Sami people, expands across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and into the Russian Kola Peninsula. It contains several of Sweden’s major mineral deposits. Large-scale extraction projects have been the subject of intense conflicts between the Sami and the Swedish state and has given rise to local protests as well as nation-wide political debate. Indigenous peoples’ right to be consulted in matters that may affect their rights is well established in international law. For many years, Sweden’s failure to thoroughly implement and enshrine this right has been subject to considerable international criticism. Consequently, a law was adopted in January 2022, obliging the government, government agencies and municipalities to consult representatives of the Sami in matters of special significance (Swedish: “särskild betydelse”) to them.
This essay aims to review the Sami Consultation Law within the context of mineral extraction in Sápmi. Following an introduction of the law and other law applicable to mining, the provisions of the Sami Consultation Law are applied to mining permit processes. The review is made from a critical perspective to illustrate problems that may arise when the law is put into practice.
The study finds that the difficult assessment of whether an issue is of special significance to the Sami may prove problematic. The absence of specific mechanisms of appeal and regulations regarding legal consequences further obstruct the Sami representative’s possibilities to claim their rights. Additional problems include the timing of consultation, as well as vague and unclear wording. In the final analysis, the conclusion drawn is that while the Sami Consultation Law has indeed strengthened the Sami’s right of consultation, there are several issues that may prevent the law from gaining its intended legal impact.}},
author = {{Vestman, Wilma}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{”What local people?” - En kritisk granskning av den samiska konsultationsordningen i ljuset av gruvärenden}},
year = {{2022}},
}