Prohibition of Retrogression of Sámi Culture and the Finnish Mining Act

Abstract

This Article discusses the prohibition of retrogression of the culture of the Sámi people enforced by the Finnish Constitution and international conventions and whether it has been included in the current Finnish Mining Act in a sufficient manner. The article also discusses how the prohibition has been ensured in two main decisions of the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court considering the subject. The article is based on the author’s Bachelor’s thesis on the subject which examines the culture of the Sámi people and the mining law. The research method used in the article is mainly legal dogmatics which is used to systemize the mining law and interpret its provisions considering the prohibition of harming the culture of the Sámi people using different legal interpretation methods. In addition to that, some decisions of the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court, statements of the Constitution committee and the statements of the Sámi assembly are analyzed in the article. After the introduction, the article presents a brief overview of Sámi culture and examines then the prohibition of retrogression of the culture in the context of the Finnish Constitution, international law and the Mining Act. Then the article examines two of the most important Finnish Supreme Administrative Court cases considering the subject and after that, it is examined how the prohibition materializes in practice in the point of view of the Sámi assembly. The last chapter contains the summary and the conclusions. The most noteworthy conclusion seems to be that although it might at first seem that the prohibition of retrogression has been included in the Mining Act the proper way, the reality in practice is much different. The rights of the Sámi people as indigenous people are not ensured well enough because of the obscurity and vagueness of the provisions of the Act.