Supreme Court decides Sami land dispute
Published: 27 Apr 2011
On April 27, the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in what has become known as the Nordmaling case. This brings to a conclusion a case that has been ongoing for 14 years. The court ruled that the Sami villages concerned have common law rights to disputed land.
The Swedish Sami Association (SSR) will now analyze the judgement, but it is clear that this is perhaps the most important verdict in modern times regarding Sami issues of law.
"The issues that have been examined in this process are of great fundamental importance, and the outcome of the case will provide guidance in future cases concerning common law rights by tradition as well as prescription from time immemorial," says Anders Blom, director of the Swedish Sami Association.
The legal process that began 14 years ago has now been resolved. In the future, the SSR hopes that the government and parliament will take responsibility for the Sami policies and actively work with questions of rights to land and water, instead of leaving them to be resolved by the courts.
"As members of SSR, we now hope that the issues relating to the question of Sami reindeer herding rights can be withdrawn from the agenda. This verdict should serve as a wake-up call for the government in shaping a new Sami policy," says Jörgen Jonsson, president of the Swedish Sami Association.
"We are obviously relieved at the Supreme Court's ruling. An analysis of the verdict will be carried out during the day, and the SSR will come back with additional information in due time," says Jenny Wik Karlsson, a lawyer for the Swedish Sami Association.
This feature has been published by the Swedish Institute.
