The continuous process of recognition and implementation of the Sami people's right to self-determination
This paper explores the status of the recognition and implementation of the Sami people's right to self-determination. The Sami are the indigenous people of Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Kola Peninsula in the north-western region of Russia. They are one people residing across national borders, enjoying a distinctive identity, language, history, culture and social structure, as well as unique traditions, livelihoods and aspirations. Their distinctiveness has given rise to their claim to self-determination based on conventional principles and instruments of international law. But where their right to self-determination has been gradually recognized by Finland, Norway and Sweden, Russia remains reluctant. And where Sami self-determination has been implemented through indigenous Sami parliaments, in Nordic states, the process of recognizing and implementing their right within these states has only taken place incrementally within existing democratic and constitutional mechanisms. It is a continuous process without a predefined outcome.
Whose Land is Lapland? The Nellim Case: A Study of the Divergent Claims of Forestry, Reindeer Herding and Indigenous Rights in Northern Finland
i Dedication ii Acknowledgements iii Table of
Rights of indigenous peoples – achievements in international law during the last quarter of a century *
The United Nations General Assembly is faced with a draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, the product of a quarter of a century of international negotiations where indigenous peoples played an important but informal role through the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. After more than a decade of haggling in the UN Commission on Human Rights, the new Human Rights Council adopted the draft Declaration in June 2006 and forwarded it to the General Assembly for final approval. Unexpectedly, the Third Committee of the Assembly deferred its adoption. The future of the declaration is now in some doubt. 
 
This article presents and discusses these developments, which started around 1980 and culminated with the adoption of the draft at the level of the Human Rights Council in 2006. It examines the standard-setting efforts and international jurisprudence during that period, noting that the growing awareness of the situation of indigenous peoples has led to significant legal developments at the national and international level, but that the implementation of the new legal standards is lagging seriously behind. Next, the article examines in depth the content and the controversial issues of the draft declaration, followed by an examination of the intended or potential institutional and procedural safeguards for these rights. It also examines a draft Nordic Saami convention which may become a model for the future. The concluding remarks review the achievements made over the last quarter of a century, and the prospects for amendments that may be required to achieve the final adoption of the Declaration by the General Assembly.