Litigating land rights in Sápmi: Indigenous legal mobilization in Finland, Norway and Sweden
In recent decades, Sami groups have been involved in numerous legal disputes on rights to land and natural resources in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Previous research has documented systematic historical injustices perpetrated by the states and described emerging Sami ethnopolitical mobilization.
However, we lack knowledge about why Sami groups use legal actions in their struggle for land and recognition, as well as the wider consequences of their legal mobilization.
This project will use a mixed-methods approach to explain Sami legal mobilization and its broader effects on Sami communities and the Nordic societies. Employing socio-legal mobilization theory, we expect Sami legal mobilization to be shaped by how groups frame their grievances, what mobilization resources they can muster, and the politico-legal opportunities they face. Furthermore, we expect the choices of actors who initiate litigation and their effects to be complex, indeterminate and contingent: Legal actions can remedy grievances, effect policy change and offer new forms of participation, but it can also be divisive, increase polarization and legitimate an overall unjust system.
We will map court cases, interview key actors and analyze documents to identify the factors that shape Sami legal mobilization and its success. Drawing on the same data, we will identify how legal mobilization has altered power dynamics within the Sami communities and between them and the societies in which they live.
However, we lack knowledge about why Sami groups use legal actions in their struggle for land and recognition, as well as the wider consequences of their legal mobilization.
This project will use a mixed-methods approach to explain Sami legal mobilization and its broader effects on Sami communities and the Nordic societies. Employing socio-legal mobilization theory, we expect Sami legal mobilization to be shaped by how groups frame their grievances, what mobilization resources they can muster, and the politico-legal opportunities they face. Furthermore, we expect the choices of actors who initiate litigation and their effects to be complex, indeterminate and contingent: Legal actions can remedy grievances, effect policy change and offer new forms of participation, but it can also be divisive, increase polarization and legitimate an overall unjust system.
We will map court cases, interview key actors and analyze documents to identify the factors that shape Sami legal mobilization and its success. Drawing on the same data, we will identify how legal mobilization has altered power dynamics within the Sami communities and between them and the societies in which they live.
Final report
Purpose and aims
This project aimed to explain legal mobilization concerning Sámi land rights and its broader consequences for Sami communities and Nordic societies. The project pursued two specific aims:
1. to determine how and why Sámi groups use litigation to assert rights to land and natural resources. By mapping legal cases, interviewing key actors, and analyzing documents, we sought to identify the factors shaping Sámi legal mobilization and its outcomes.
2. to clarify how legal mobilization regarding Sámi land rights affects Sámi communities and surrounding societies. We aimed to identify how legal mobilization has altered power dynamics within Sámi groups and the societies in which they live.
Drawing on legal mobilization theory, the project analyzed how and why Sámi groups resort to legal strategies in their struggle for land and recognition, as well as the effects thereof. We assumed that mobilization is not solely explained by increased grievances, but is shaped by how actors articulate their goals in terms of rights, the resources they can mobilize, and the political and legal opportunities they encounter. The theory also emphasizes that legal processes are a double-edged tool: they can create change and visibility but can also be burdensome, polarizing, and legitimizing state claims to power.
Project Development
The development of the project was shaped by how we addressed several challenges. The ethical review process led to significant delays in the project’s initial phase. Another challenge has been involving Sámi research participants. There is a noticeable degree of research fatigue, and building trust takes time. For example, reindeer herders are fully occupied with their livelihoods, and if they are also involved in time-consuming legal processes, participation in research is rarely a priority. This has meant that we have had to work actively and proactively to establish contacts and build trust with key actors.
Mapping court cases has also involved interesting challenges. Access to judgments in public databases is limited, especially regarding lower court instances and older decisions, particularly in Finland. For the purposes of the project, it has also been important to capture cases that were not successful and did not result in widely recognized precedents. We have aimed to build databases of cases involving (a) Sámi parties and (b) land rights in a broad sense, but these two categories are not self-evident and can themselves be contested. We chose to focus on cases where the parties explicitly assert a Sámi identity and to treat “land rights cases” as a matter of degree rather than a clearly delimited category.
Finally, we have needed to revise the project’s approach to assessing the broader impact of legal processes on social relations. Important precedent-setting cases—such as the Girjas or Fosen cases—have had significant consequences for both Sámi people and the societies in which they live. However, cases of that magnitude are few, complex, and highly diverse, making it difficult to establish their causal effects. Our project has contributed by developing narrative explanations of the impact of legal processes.
Implementation
The project team consisted of Johan Karlsson Schaffer (principal investigator) and Peter Johansson. A research assistant was employed in 2024 to work on data collection; after her time in the project, she has begun doctoral studies. The team also included a faculty-funded PhD candidate who developed an independent dissertation project on litigation concerning Sámi land rights. The group also hosted a Fulbright visiting scholar from the University of Louisville during the 2022–2023 academic year and a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Ljubljana in spring 2025.
Research Design and Method
The project adopted a comparative design, comparing Finland, Norway, and Sweden to identify factors shaping Sámi legal mobilization and its effects. We combined mapping of legal processes with interviews: we compiled a database of cases concerning Sámi land rights in national courts and international bodies, including information on parties, legal sources, outcomes, and societal effects. In addition, we and our assistants conducted semi-structured interviews with Sámi representatives, lawyers, public officials, and other key actors, complemented by document and media analysis. This method enabled analyses of mobilization patterns, strategic choices, and long-term consequences within and beyond Sámi communities.
Three Main Results and Conclusions of the Project
1. Legal processes are arenas of knowledge and power with unequal conditions
The project demonstrates that courts constitute central arenas where Sámi groups can mobilize to assert land rights and influence legal development. While previous research has tended to assume that Indigenous peoples struggle to have their knowledge claims recognized in court, we show that Sámi actors—by combining reindeer herders’ traditional knowledge with scientific expertise—have sometimes achieved success. At the same time, access to the legal system is unequally distributed and entails significant financial risks. Under the Reindeer Husbandry Act, only members of Sámi villages can assert reindeer herding rights, even though this is a right belonging to the Sámi people as a whole. Moreover, rules on litigation costs and legal aid make legal mobilization a costly and burdensome strategy. Overall, legal processes both enable rights claims and reproduce structural constraints.
2. Legal victories reshape norms and expose deeper conflicts
Even when Sámi parties succeed in the highest courts, the outcomes are ambivalent. Judicial precedents have recognized the Sámi as an Indigenous people and strengthened the protection of reindeer herding rights, but they have also effectively upheld the legal distinction between reindeer-herding and non-reindeer-herding Sámi. Legal processes thus make visible and activate historical power structures and internal tensions, while also generating media attention, international support, and some policy change.
3. The power to address underlying conflicts lies with political authorities
Finally, the analysis shows that legal disputes over Sámi land rights ultimately reflect underlying conflicts of interest. Courts can adjudicate discrete cases, but it is parliament and government that have the power to change institutional frameworks and societal structures. The lack of political will to address conflicts over land and natural resources has left claimants with few alternatives to pursuing lengthy and costly litigation. Legal mobilization thus appears both as a potential tool for redress and as a sign of the state’s inability to fully address colonial legacies and demands for justice in Sápmi.
New Research Questions
A recurring pattern in litigation on Sámi land rights is that the state often appears in multiple roles: as a party and landowner; as legislative, executive, and judicial authority; and through various agencies (including the Sámi Parliament), municipalities, and state-owned companies. Future research could explore the state’s multiple and sometimes conflicting roles in such cases. We also continue to study strategic litigation and the role of courts as policy actors and political arenas.
Dissemination and Collaboration
We have disseminated research findings through conferences, teaching, and public engagement.
Conferences
The project organized the workshop Legal struggles on Indigenous land rights in Sápmi on 12–13 June 2024, aimed at researchers and practitioners from across the Nordic region. Presentations focused on research findings and practical experiences, enabling joint reflection on land rights issues in Sápmi. In total, 22 presentations were delivered (18 researchers and four practitioners), with around 10 additional participants attending as audience.
We have presented research findings in seminars at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Oslo, as well as at twelve academic conferences, including the AHRI Conference (2021 and 2024), ECPR General Conference (2022–2025), Human Rights Symposium (UiT) 2022, Insikt och Utblick (Várdduo, Umeå University) 2024, and NOPSA 2024.
Teaching
The project’s results have been integrated into relevant teaching at undergraduate and master’s levels, primarily at our home institution. We have supervised six bachelor’s and four master’s theses related to the project’s theme. Additionally, six students have been involved in the project as interns, two of whom have gone on to doctoral studies.
Public Engagement, etc.
During the project period, we have delivered a number of public lectures, for example at the Elsa Laula Symposium (Umeå University) 2022, the UN Association in Gothenburg (2023 and 2024), the Gothenburg Book Fair 2024, Mölndal City Library 2024, Norsesund Art and Culture Association 2025, the National Nordic Museum in Seattle 2025, and Amnesty Sápmi 2026.
We have also participated in six panels on related themes at the Swedish Forum for Human Rights (MR-dagarna) 2021–2025. The project has also resulted in four blog posts and five media appearances.
Collaboration
An important form of dissemination and collaboration was our contribution to a research anthology published by the Truth Commission for the Sámi People, which was submitted to the Minister for Culture on 4 March 2026 (SOU 2026:15).
The project also contributed to establishing the Indigenous research network International Knowledge Network for Alliance Building (IKNAB).
Johansson was interviewed in 2022 by a consultancy firm preparing materials for a Swedish forestry company on how forestry practices can negatively affect reindeer herding.
This project aimed to explain legal mobilization concerning Sámi land rights and its broader consequences for Sami communities and Nordic societies. The project pursued two specific aims:
1. to determine how and why Sámi groups use litigation to assert rights to land and natural resources. By mapping legal cases, interviewing key actors, and analyzing documents, we sought to identify the factors shaping Sámi legal mobilization and its outcomes.
2. to clarify how legal mobilization regarding Sámi land rights affects Sámi communities and surrounding societies. We aimed to identify how legal mobilization has altered power dynamics within Sámi groups and the societies in which they live.
Drawing on legal mobilization theory, the project analyzed how and why Sámi groups resort to legal strategies in their struggle for land and recognition, as well as the effects thereof. We assumed that mobilization is not solely explained by increased grievances, but is shaped by how actors articulate their goals in terms of rights, the resources they can mobilize, and the political and legal opportunities they encounter. The theory also emphasizes that legal processes are a double-edged tool: they can create change and visibility but can also be burdensome, polarizing, and legitimizing state claims to power.
Project Development
The development of the project was shaped by how we addressed several challenges. The ethical review process led to significant delays in the project’s initial phase. Another challenge has been involving Sámi research participants. There is a noticeable degree of research fatigue, and building trust takes time. For example, reindeer herders are fully occupied with their livelihoods, and if they are also involved in time-consuming legal processes, participation in research is rarely a priority. This has meant that we have had to work actively and proactively to establish contacts and build trust with key actors.
Mapping court cases has also involved interesting challenges. Access to judgments in public databases is limited, especially regarding lower court instances and older decisions, particularly in Finland. For the purposes of the project, it has also been important to capture cases that were not successful and did not result in widely recognized precedents. We have aimed to build databases of cases involving (a) Sámi parties and (b) land rights in a broad sense, but these two categories are not self-evident and can themselves be contested. We chose to focus on cases where the parties explicitly assert a Sámi identity and to treat “land rights cases” as a matter of degree rather than a clearly delimited category.
Finally, we have needed to revise the project’s approach to assessing the broader impact of legal processes on social relations. Important precedent-setting cases—such as the Girjas or Fosen cases—have had significant consequences for both Sámi people and the societies in which they live. However, cases of that magnitude are few, complex, and highly diverse, making it difficult to establish their causal effects. Our project has contributed by developing narrative explanations of the impact of legal processes.
Implementation
The project team consisted of Johan Karlsson Schaffer (principal investigator) and Peter Johansson. A research assistant was employed in 2024 to work on data collection; after her time in the project, she has begun doctoral studies. The team also included a faculty-funded PhD candidate who developed an independent dissertation project on litigation concerning Sámi land rights. The group also hosted a Fulbright visiting scholar from the University of Louisville during the 2022–2023 academic year and a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Ljubljana in spring 2025.
Research Design and Method
The project adopted a comparative design, comparing Finland, Norway, and Sweden to identify factors shaping Sámi legal mobilization and its effects. We combined mapping of legal processes with interviews: we compiled a database of cases concerning Sámi land rights in national courts and international bodies, including information on parties, legal sources, outcomes, and societal effects. In addition, we and our assistants conducted semi-structured interviews with Sámi representatives, lawyers, public officials, and other key actors, complemented by document and media analysis. This method enabled analyses of mobilization patterns, strategic choices, and long-term consequences within and beyond Sámi communities.
Three Main Results and Conclusions of the Project
1. Legal processes are arenas of knowledge and power with unequal conditions
The project demonstrates that courts constitute central arenas where Sámi groups can mobilize to assert land rights and influence legal development. While previous research has tended to assume that Indigenous peoples struggle to have their knowledge claims recognized in court, we show that Sámi actors—by combining reindeer herders’ traditional knowledge with scientific expertise—have sometimes achieved success. At the same time, access to the legal system is unequally distributed and entails significant financial risks. Under the Reindeer Husbandry Act, only members of Sámi villages can assert reindeer herding rights, even though this is a right belonging to the Sámi people as a whole. Moreover, rules on litigation costs and legal aid make legal mobilization a costly and burdensome strategy. Overall, legal processes both enable rights claims and reproduce structural constraints.
2. Legal victories reshape norms and expose deeper conflicts
Even when Sámi parties succeed in the highest courts, the outcomes are ambivalent. Judicial precedents have recognized the Sámi as an Indigenous people and strengthened the protection of reindeer herding rights, but they have also effectively upheld the legal distinction between reindeer-herding and non-reindeer-herding Sámi. Legal processes thus make visible and activate historical power structures and internal tensions, while also generating media attention, international support, and some policy change.
3. The power to address underlying conflicts lies with political authorities
Finally, the analysis shows that legal disputes over Sámi land rights ultimately reflect underlying conflicts of interest. Courts can adjudicate discrete cases, but it is parliament and government that have the power to change institutional frameworks and societal structures. The lack of political will to address conflicts over land and natural resources has left claimants with few alternatives to pursuing lengthy and costly litigation. Legal mobilization thus appears both as a potential tool for redress and as a sign of the state’s inability to fully address colonial legacies and demands for justice in Sápmi.
New Research Questions
A recurring pattern in litigation on Sámi land rights is that the state often appears in multiple roles: as a party and landowner; as legislative, executive, and judicial authority; and through various agencies (including the Sámi Parliament), municipalities, and state-owned companies. Future research could explore the state’s multiple and sometimes conflicting roles in such cases. We also continue to study strategic litigation and the role of courts as policy actors and political arenas.
Dissemination and Collaboration
We have disseminated research findings through conferences, teaching, and public engagement.
Conferences
The project organized the workshop Legal struggles on Indigenous land rights in Sápmi on 12–13 June 2024, aimed at researchers and practitioners from across the Nordic region. Presentations focused on research findings and practical experiences, enabling joint reflection on land rights issues in Sápmi. In total, 22 presentations were delivered (18 researchers and four practitioners), with around 10 additional participants attending as audience.
We have presented research findings in seminars at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Oslo, as well as at twelve academic conferences, including the AHRI Conference (2021 and 2024), ECPR General Conference (2022–2025), Human Rights Symposium (UiT) 2022, Insikt och Utblick (Várdduo, Umeå University) 2024, and NOPSA 2024.
Teaching
The project’s results have been integrated into relevant teaching at undergraduate and master’s levels, primarily at our home institution. We have supervised six bachelor’s and four master’s theses related to the project’s theme. Additionally, six students have been involved in the project as interns, two of whom have gone on to doctoral studies.
Public Engagement, etc.
During the project period, we have delivered a number of public lectures, for example at the Elsa Laula Symposium (Umeå University) 2022, the UN Association in Gothenburg (2023 and 2024), the Gothenburg Book Fair 2024, Mölndal City Library 2024, Norsesund Art and Culture Association 2025, the National Nordic Museum in Seattle 2025, and Amnesty Sápmi 2026.
We have also participated in six panels on related themes at the Swedish Forum for Human Rights (MR-dagarna) 2021–2025. The project has also resulted in four blog posts and five media appearances.
Collaboration
An important form of dissemination and collaboration was our contribution to a research anthology published by the Truth Commission for the Sámi People, which was submitted to the Minister for Culture on 4 March 2026 (SOU 2026:15).
The project also contributed to establishing the Indigenous research network International Knowledge Network for Alliance Building (IKNAB).
Johansson was interviewed in 2022 by a consultancy firm preparing materials for a Swedish forestry company on how forestry practices can negatively affect reindeer herding.