Introduction
In October 2024, UN Committees found that Finland had been violating the rights of the Sámi, an Indigenous people of Northern Europe, by granting mineral exploration permits in their historical reindeer herding territories. The Sámi, similarly to other Indigenous Peoples worldwide, have long had their ways of life unrecognised. This article examines the findings of the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CCRC), which spoke in favour of the Sámi thanks to unprecedented legal interpretations. Their decisions not only reaffirm Indigenous Peoples’ entitlement to being included in decision-making regarding their land, but also establish a connection between historical territories and cultural rights. The ruling is a long-awaited moment for the Sámi and a possible landmark moment for Indigenous rights interpretation.
Background
The Sámi are a semi-nomadic Indigenous people inhabiting the Sápmi region, a territory that extends over the Northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and part of the Kola Peninsula in Russia (Dehaibi, 2025; International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, n.d.). Their people have been inhabiting this region for thousands of years, practising reindeer herding (Dehaibi, 2025). Politically, they have three parliaments in Sweden, Norway, and Finland (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, n.d.). The Russian Sámi are organised into NGOs (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, n.d.). In 2000, the parliaments founded a Sámi Parliamentary Council, a joint institution for Sámi representation which continues to run today (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, n.d.).
The Sámi, similarly to most Indigenous people worldwide, have suffered discrimination. In Finland, they were subject to assimilation policies, which included religious conversion and the forced relocation of Sámi children to boarding schools where it was forbidden for them to speak their native language (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, 2024). Attacks on the Sámi ways of living continue today.
The Sápmi region presents deposits of various valuable minerals, and therefore has been attracting projects from mining companies (Sámi Parliament of Finland, 2025). The case discussed in this article concerns a mining exploration permit issued by Finland in 2014 in the Siida’s (local communities of reindeer herders) traditional territories (Stagstrup, 2025). The Finnish permitting authority, known as the Tukes, contacted the Sámi Parliament. The response was negative, with the Sámi raising concerns over the improper assessment of the impact of mining on reindeer herding for local communities (Stagstrup, 2025). However, their appeals of the government’s decision failed. Hence, in 2022, a company received a reservation to survey for minerals in the Siida’s territories (Stagstrup, 2025).
The impact of mineral exploration can be detrimental. Reindeer herding is not only vital for local communities, but also essential to Sámi culture and traditions at large (Sloth-Nielsen, n.d.). Through herding, many individuals from the community learn traditional singing and are introduced to traditional Sámi handicrafts (Sloth-Nielsen, n.d.). During the winter, reindeer follow tracks in the snow, including man-made machinery tracks, thereby risking migrating towards less favourable areas (Sloth-Nielsen, n.d.). Thus, mineral exploration and extraction further endanger the Sámi ways of life, which are already put under severe stress by climate change (Sloth-Nielsen, n.d.).
Members of the Finnish Sámi community filed a petition to UN bodies to raise awareness over the violations perpetrated by the Finnish government on their territories (Dehaibi, 2025). The petition argued that, without proper and fair impact assessment procedures, Finland had violated the community’s right to take part in those activities that ensure livelihoods and the maintenance of traditions (Dehaibi, 2025).
UN Findings
In October 2024, the CESCR and the CCRC found that Finland had violated Sámi rights. The mineral survey permit violated Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their traditional territory upon which Sámi livelihoods are based. Additionally, the impact of such surveys would encroach on Sámi ways of transmitting their culture and traditions, and therefore penalise Sámi children as well (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, n.d.). Such a permit also violated the Siida’s right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), a right enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
In particular, the CESCR concluded that Indigenous people and their institutions must be included in decision-making processes that affect their territories and ways of life, stressing the importance of FPIC (Stagstrup, 2025). The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), together with the CESCR found that Finland had violated Article 15(1)(a) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which affirms the right of Indigenous Peoples such as the Sámi to the lands and resources of the territories they have historically occupied (Stagstrup, 2025).
Furthermore, the Committees stated that reindeer herding is essential to Sámi culture; hence, it must be protected as a cultural right (Stagstrup, 2025). This being considered, the Committee’s findings imply that the Sámi’s right to take part in their traditional ways of life is inextricably linked to their ownership of historical territories and their resources, which in turn reproduce Sámi culture (Stagstrup, 2025). Accordingly, the CCRC stated that historical Sámi territories play a crucial role in the transmission of the Sámi youth and so are an integral aspect of Sámi cultural preservation (Sámi Parliament of Finland, 2025). Thus, according to the CCRC, Finland violated Articles 8 and 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which focus on the child’s right to an identity and the child from a minority’s right to enjoy their own culture, respectively (Stagstrup, 2025).
This marked the first time that the CCRC and the CESCR interpreted Articles 8 and 30 of the CRC and Article 15(1) of the ICESCR in regard to Indigenous Peoples’ rights (Stagstrup, 2025). Such interpretations are fundamental to clarify the connections between resource extraction and Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their own land, a link European systems have so far failed to acknowledge (Dehaibi, 2025). The UN Committees have concluded that the Sámi have a right to their territories and resources, which Finland violated via the bypassing of the FPIC (Dehaibi, 2025). The Sámi Parliament of Finland stated it expects these UN findings to change Finnish legislation and mining policies (Sámi Parliament of Finland, 2025).
Implications
The implications of this unprecedented UN investigation into Sámi rights are multifaceted. On the one hand, it pushes Finland to change its approach towards the Sámi territories. On the other hand, it sets new standards for the legal interpretation of the connections between Indigenous Peoples, their land, and their right to preserve their cultures.
The UN Committees urged Finland to provide reparations for the Siida community and re-evaluate their policies on mineral exploration permits, taking into account the Sámi’s right to FPIC (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, n.d.). The CESCR stated that “Finland needs to initiate the process of legal recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional lands, […] which can ensure the realisation of their right to self-determination” (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, n.d.).
However, it is the Committee’s approach to Indigenous rights at large that can prompt new paths for recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ ways of life. The CESCR established links between cultural rights and collective property, extending the scope of investigations beyond domestic property law (Stagstrup, 2025). It recognised the collective reach of certain rights rather than addressing individual entitlements, allowing for Indigenous Peoples’ land to be considered beyond traditional property rights and recognised for its relevance for cultural preservation (Dehaibi, 2025). As the right to property is conventionally seen in the context of a liberal market economy, the UN Committees’ rulings open up ways of seeing land as culturally emancipatory, connecting Indigenous Peoples’ ontologies to the lands they inhabit (Dehaibi, 2025).
Moreover, the CCRC’s interpretation of Article 8 of the CRC links for the first time Indigenous Peoples’ territories to Indigenous traditions and therefore to the Indigenous children’s rights to enjoy and cultivate the culture of their community (Sloth-Nielsen, n.d.; United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, n.d.).
The preservation of the cultural identity of Indigenous children is crucial, as they represent the continuity of their distinct people. States must promote Indigenous children’s consultation on all matters affecting them, including issues concerning their traditional territories and environment, said the CRC (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, n.d.).
These verdicts represent a significant step towards the development of Indigenous rights, establishing the detrimental effects of resource extraction for the continuity of Indigenous culture and broader ways of life (Stagstrup, 2025). This is an important victory for the Sámi and can potentially reframe views of property in matters concerning Indigenous rights (Dehaibi, 2025).
Conclusion
The findings of the UN Committees may represent a significant moment in the global development of Indigenous rights protection mechanisms. By confirming the Sámi’s right to free, prior, and informed consent, and by re-interpreting collective land ownership to connect it to Indigenous cultural survival, these decisions prompt Finland and the global community at large to treat land beyond conventional views that reduce it to an economic resource.
This case calls for a re-evaluation of Finland’s policy and mineral exploration permits. More generally, this case represents a crucial precedent. To encroach on Indigenous Peoples’ lands means to jeopardise their cultural heritage and identity. It is time to rethink justice for the Sámi and all other Indigenous Peoples, focusing on respect, recognition, and cooperation.
Bibliography
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Sloth-Nielsen, R. (n.d.). Finland’s failure to meet international standards on indigenous rights of free, prior and informed consent violates multiple Convention rights of indigenous Sámi children, including the right to cultural identity [Case note]. Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory. Retrieved on July 23, 2025. https://www.childrensrightsobservatory.org/case-notes/mevetalvfinland.
Stagstrup, J. (2025, March 11). Extraction and Indigenous Culture: UN bodies’ views on the indigenous right to culture, the indigenous right to land, and resource extraction. EJIL: Talk!. Retrieved on July 23, 2025. https://www.ejiltalk.org/extraction-and-indigenous-culture-un-bodies-views-on-the-indigenous-right-to-culture-the-indigenous-right-to-land-and-resource-extraction/.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe. (2024, March 15). Finland must address legacy of human rights violations against Sámi people, says UN expert. Retrieved on July 23, 2025. https://unric.org/en/finland-must-address-legacy-of-human-rights-violations-against-sami-people-says-un-expert/.
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Further Information
Sámi Parliament of Finland. (2025, January 13). Webinar about UN mining decisions 2024 in Indigenous Sámi homeland in Finland [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IdnkDHgRbY.
