– They are valid now. So, the Supreme Court has not said that this must be demolished, or taken a position on it. So the license is there, and we have to make a new administrative decision. This is how Aasland answered questions from the audience at a Labor Party meeting in Namsos on 23 January this year. He was specifically asked whether the license that had been granted to the wind power plant at Fosen was invalid or not. The person who asked the question pointed out that the Supreme Court had determined that the concession was invalid. – What is the status of that? Are they valid or invalid now? And if they are invalid, why are the turbines still running? Aasland replied as follows: – The concession has been granted. What the Supreme Court said was that this could violate the reindeer herding and human…or international law, and the rights of indigenous people, if it stands over time. And that’s not just something I say, but that’s what the judgment says. Then you have to think that it is nonsense. – Is wrong Law professor Øyvind Ravna at UiT Norway’s Arctic University has no doubt that the minister is blundering. – Minister Aasland is wrong, he says to news. Ravna refers to the unanimous judgment where it is stated that “the concession decision is contrary to the reindeer owners’ rights according to the convention provision”. – And it is clearly established that “the decision is now invalid”, says the professor. Here is a recording from the meeting in Namsos: – The concession applies Just after the oil and energy minister spoke to the protesters on Tuesday afternoon, news asked what he meant by what he said at the Ap meeting in Namsos. Aasland replies that the Supreme Court does not take a decision on what should happen to the wind power plants. – So you think that the concession is valid as it stands now? – The Supreme Court judgment says nothing about taking down the wind power plant or stopping it… – That was not what I asked. It states that the concession is invalid. And you say the opposite? – No, I say that we must make a new decision in this matter… – But in Trøndelag you said that it was valid. – No, I said that this concession applies until we make a new decision. The Supreme Court has not taken a decision on what should happen to the wind power plants. We have to make a decision that says what will eventually happen with the wind power plants, Terje Aasland answers to news. Here you can see the entire interview: Thinks he is completely out of touch Professor Øyvind Ravna has no doubts on this point either. He denies that the concession applies until further notice. – When a unanimous Supreme Court rules that the licensing decision is invalid, I can only see that he is wrong, says Ravna. In the meeting with the shareholders on Tuesday, Aasland put it this way: – The Supreme Court says that a new decision must be made in the case. I take note of that. The professor is puzzled by this too. – This is not stated in the judgment. If Aasland says that the Supreme Court has stated this, it must have happened in a different context, and that is highly unusual, he says. – Is Aasland, from a legal point of view, “completely in the clear”? – Yes, from a legal point of view, one is enough, replies Øyvind Ravna. REACTS: Law professor Øyvind Ravna works at the University of Tromsø. Photo: Jonatan Ottesen / UiT Rødt-Moxnes: – Painted into a corner Storting representative for Rødt, Bjørnar Moxnes, believes it is now time for the Ministry of Oil and Energy (OED) to be relieved of responsibility for the Fosen case. – The government must realize that Terje Aasland has painted the government and the state into a corner. – Aasland has said that the licenses are valid, and denied that the wind turbines have been set up illegally. Leading experts on Sami law and the Norwegian Institution for Human Rights have had to address these claims, says Moxnes to news. MUST BE DEMOLISHED: Bjørnar Moxnes in Rødt believes the turbines at Fosen must be demolished. Photo: Mette Ballovara / news He says the government has the opportunity to move cases to another ministry. According to the Rødt politician, OED is most concerned with securing the wind power plants at Fosen. – If the case is to have an outcome that secures the Sami’s rights, including the right to operate reindeer herding, someone with expertise in reindeer herding and territorial disputes must lead the process. It could be the Ministry of Agriculture and Food or the Ministry of Local Government and Districts, says Moxnes.
ttn-69
Law professor believes Aasland misses Fosen’s validity – news Sápmi
