It is no exaggeration to say that it is a historic case that starts in the Supreme Court on 29 February. Sami and local rights, built up through centuries of use of the land and nature, are the theme. For the first time, these rights are being tested on such a large scale: the dispute is over the ownership of almost the entire municipality of Karasjok – around 5,300 square kilometres. The citizens have already won the case in two rounds. If they win in the Supreme Court as well, they will become Norway’s third largest private landowner. The judgment will have great significance for claims to property rights in other Sami core areas, particularly in the neighboring municipalities of Tana and Kautokeino. Because the case is so important, it will be heard in a so-called grand chamber with 11 judges. If the people of Karasjok win the case, they have the exclusive right to elk hunting and other benefits in nature. At the same time, they retain their rights in the rest of Finnmark. Photo: Lemet Johanas Nystad The right to land in Finnmark For a long time Statskog was the land owner in almost all of Finnmark. The work of the Sami Committee resulted in the Finnmark Act – so that the Finnmarkings themselves took over ownership of the land through the company Finnmarkseiendommen (FeFo) in 2005. In addition, the historical use of the entire county was to be mapped. On the basis of that, one had to find out who had acquired right of use and ownership, whether it was Sami or others. The mapping is done by the Finnmark Commission, on the basis of demands from groups and individuals. The decisions of the commission can be appealed to the Norwegian Regional Court and possibly further to the Supreme Court. Two cases (about Nesseby and Stjernøya) have already been before the Supreme Court. The case arouses great interest in Finnmark. One of the reasons is that the residents of Karasjok can get in bags and sacks. They have rights to harvest from nature in all the other municipalities in Finnmark as well. These rights are secured in the Finnmark Act, and they are not lost if the residents gain ownership of their home municipality. Such ownership in principle gives them the right to harvest all the resources themselves. Everyone is divided The question of who rightfully owns Karasjok has divided the experts: The case was dealt with first in the so-called Finnmark Commission, then in the Norwegian Foreign Affairs Court. Both were split 3–2 in their decisions. Jon Gauslaa, John Bernhard Henriksen and Ole Henrik Magga were the majority in the Finnmark Commission which came to the conclusion that the residents own Karasjok. Photo: Marie Elise Nystad / news A narrow majority came to the conclusion that the residents of Karasjok owned the land together. Karasjok municipality, together with several organizations and families, represents all the residents in the case. In the Supreme Court, they meet two other parties: The Guttorm group represents the Sami part of the population. They believe that ownership lies only with those who are connected to Sami families, not with other immigrants in the municipality. Finnmarkseiendommen (FeFo) is the landowner today, and wants to keep Karasjok. FeFo is the joint landowner company of all Finnmarks, and it took over the land in Finnmark from Statskog. Before such cases, the parties must send submissions to the court in which they present their most important arguments. This is how they argue: FeFo: No unified property rights FeFo believes that different areas in Karasjok have been used by different groups throughout history. The population has not acted as one group with one common area. The use has gone crosswise, within and outside the municipality. Therefore, there is also no collective property right that matches the municipal boundaries, says FeFo. Here, FeFo receives support from a group of reindeer owners, who are so-called party assistants in the Supreme Court. Reindrifta has winter pastures inland and summer pastures towards the coast. Thus, they have rights across municipal boundaries. – Finnmark can be changed forever and divided into what can be perceived as Sami and non-Sami land. That is what Jan Olli, director of FeFo, has said about the Karasjok dispute. Photo: Jan Henrik Hætta / FeFo FeFo also believes that it was never intended to separate Finnmark into Sami and non-Sami areas based on international law. The Storting said no to that. The Finnmark Act already gives the Sámi influence over the whole of Finnmark, in a way that safeguards the Sámi’s rights as indigenous people. (There are separate rules to protect Sami use of natural resources, and the Sami Parliament appoints half the board of FeFo.) See the fact box on international law at the bottom of the case. The mapping of rights that is taking place now applies to both the Sami and others. This is based on normal national rules. Then it becomes important that the state has acted as owner, FeFo believes: The state has, among other things, sold and leased out property. The property right is established as a so-called fixed legal relationship, and later transferred to FeFo. (PS: The Sámi Parliament has also sent a submission to the Supreme Court. There they say that the state’s previous property right in Finnmark was not real. Emphasizing it now, they believe, goes against the whole purpose of the Finnmark Act.) The Sámi culture has dominated in Karasjok for centuries. The picture is from a solar concert with schoolchildren in 2023. Photo: news Karasjok: Sami property before it was Norwegian The inner parts of Finnmark were under the Swedish king until 1751. At that time, the Sami had used the area as their own for a long time. Thus, local and Sami property rights were already securely established when the area became Norwegian, write the lawyers on behalf of Karasjok’s population. They believe that FeFo looks too much at the situation today and the last 100-150 years. It is during this period that the state actively pursued Norwegianisation. That policy cannot wipe out the rights that were built up long ago, they believe. The Sámi have dominated in the area, but others have also used open fields. This applies not least to Kvens, i.e. immigrants from Finland. They have become part of the larger community. Therefore, property rights are required on behalf of everyone who lives in the municipality at all times. In any case, the Sami have not accepted that the state was the owner. Due to differences in language and culture, they have not even had access to what the state has decided. The Karasjok population believe it is a breach of international law if they are not allowed to own their traditional lands. Here they refer to the provisions on the rights of indigenous peoples, given in ILO Convention 169. (See fact box at the bottom of the case.) Thoralf Henriksen has fought for Sami rights for a lifetime. He is central to the Guttorm group, which demands ownership of Karasjok on behalf of the Sami inhabitants. Photo: Privat Guttormgruppen: Only the Sami have created rights The Guttormgruppen agrees with much of what Karasjok’s lawyers write about history and legal relations. But: Since it is the actual use that gives rights, and it is the Sami who have used the area for centuries, it is also the Sami who own it today, according to the Guttorm group. They estimate that 20 percent of the residents belong to families that have moved recently and do not have the same rights. The Guttorm group emphasizes that the Sami’s culture is oral. The use of nature is based on a common understanding. Both documents and fence posts are missing, but the ownership of the area is no less firmly established for that reason, it says. They also believe that many written sources are incorrect and characterized by the Norwegianization policy. They also refer to the provision in international law that indigenous peoples own their traditional areas. The big question is who should in practice be considered Sami – and thus get a share in the ownership. The Guttorm group does not give a precise definition in the post. Nor have they given a clear answer to news when we have asked on previous occasions. They have nevertheless emphasized that everyone in Karasjok has a right to use the area and harvest from nature. On that point, all the parties in the case agree. The case in the Supreme Court is about almost all of Karasjok, excluding the red areas – over 5,300 square kilometres. Illustration: The Finnmark Commission The ILO Convention on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Norway has acceded to ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Peoples in Independent States. Article 14 in particular is often highlighted in connection with Sami rights. 1. The property and management rights of the people concerned to the land areas that they traditionally possess must be recognised. When the conditions so require, measures must also be taken to ensure the right of the people concerned to use land that they do not own alone, but to which they have traditionally had access for their livelihood and their traditional activities. In this context, special emphasis must be placed on the situation of nomadic people and people who practice shifting cultivation. 2. The governments must, as necessary, take the necessary steps to map the land areas traditionally held by the people concerned, and ensure effective protection of their property and management rights. 3. Appropriate arrangements must be ensured in the national legal order to settle legal claims relating to land areas from the people concerned. The entire convention can be read here. More background on the case: news has covered the dispute over Karasjok in all rounds: When the demands came, when the local people won in the Finnmark Commission, when the case began in the Norwegian Foreign Affairs Court, when the local people also won in round two, and when FeFo decided to appeal to the Supreme Court . Below you will find the final submissions that have been sent to the Supreme Court from the three parties and from the reindeer herding district, which is a party assistant for FeFo. There are also three other players who have used their right under the law to send submissions to the Supreme Court: The submission from the government attorney provoked strong reactions in Karasjok: Two minor cases about the right to land in Finnmark have been before the Supreme Court. FeFo won both, and the decisions were unanimous. One concerned management of an area in Nesseby, the other ownership of Stjernøya. In the latter, the Supreme Court established in its judgment a point that is important for FeFo: That “the state’s previous legal and factual dispositions of the land in Finnmark will normally be included as elements in the assessment of claims for property rights on the basis of age-related use”. The Karasjok case goes to the Supreme Court over eight days, from 29 February to 11 March.
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Historic battle over Karasjok – this is how they argue in the Supreme Court – news Troms and Finnmark
