Legislation | The new proposal for the Sámi Parliamentary Act went to the parliament for consideration

Long The draft bill for the Sámi Parliamentary Act was submitted to parliament for consideration on Thursday.

The meeting of Sámi assemblies had approved the motion given in the last election period, the basic solutions of which are included in the new motion. According to the Ministry of Justice's press release, an agreement has also been reached on the new proposal with the Sámi parliamentarians in the negotiations that took place at the beginning of December.

In the negotiations, the board of the Sámi assemblies unanimously accepted the small clarifications from the state to the proposal of the last election period, the Sámi assemblies says in its own press release.

“Despite the changes, the proposal to amend the Sámi Assembly Act promotes the right of self-determination of the Sámi people”, the chairman of the Sámi Assembly Tuomas Aslak Juuso says in the announcement.

“When the proposal enters into force, it will presumably correct the human rights violations noted by the UN Human Rights Committee. I really hope that this time the Sámi district law will be completed.”

The presentation the aim is, among other things, to promote the realization of the Sami people's right to self-determination. In addition, the show wants to improve the self-governance that the Sámi have in matters related to their language and culture.

The bill also aims to improve the operating conditions of Sámi assemblies. The Sámi parliament is a political institution that handles matters concerning the Sámi's own language and culture and their status as an indigenous people.

In the bill, for example, it is proposed that the election list of Sámi assemblies would in future only concern who has the right to vote and run for office in the Sámi assembly elections. The electoral roll would therefore no longer be about defining who can be considered Sámi.

Petteri Orpon The (kok) government recorded in its program that a presentation on the Sami assembly law will be made by the end of this year. The law is supposed to enter into force in July next year.

The current law is from 1995. Its reform has already been under way for ten years. The last time they tried to pass the law Sanna Marini (sd) government, whose proposal failed in February in the Constitutional Committee.