Editing Sámi people (section)

====Finland====
[[File:Yllastunturi Finland.jpg|left|thumb|Land near [[Ylläs]]]]
The act establishing the [[Sámi Parliament of Finland|Finnish Sámi Parliament]] (Finnish: Saamelaiskäräjät) was passed on 9 November 1973. Sámi people have had very little representation in Finnish national politics. In fact, in 2007, [[Janne Seurujärvi]], a [[Centre Party (Finland)|Finnish Centre Party]] representative, became the first Sámi ever to be elected to the Finnish Parliament.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NordicStorm |date=5 November 2007 |title=Minority MEPs? |url=http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2007/11/5/8342/36983 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613184329/http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2007/11/5/8342/36983 |archive-date=13 June 2012 |access-date=14 March 2012 |website=The European Tribune}}</ref>
[[File:Map of Lapland, Finland-fi.svg|thumb|[[Lapland (Finland)|Finnish Lapland]]. The three northernmost municipalities Utsjoki, Inari and Enontekiö and part of Sodankylä are officially considered the Sámi area.]]

Finland ratified the 1966 [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights|UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] though several cases have been brought before the [[United Nations Human Rights Committee|UN Human Rights Committee]]. Of those, 36 cases involved a determination of the rights of individual Sámi in Finland and Sweden. The committee decisions clarify that Sámi are members of a minority within the meaning of Article 27 and that deprivation or erosion of their rights to practice traditional activities that are an essential element of their culture do come within the scope of Article 27.<ref>{{Cite web |last=United Nations Human Rights Committee |title=Jouni E. Länsman et al. v. Finland, Communication No. 671/1995, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/58/D/671/1995 (1996). |url=http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/undocs/html/VWS67158.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014110334/http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/undocs/html/VWS67158.htm |archive-date=14 October 2021 |access-date=17 May 2021 |website=[[University of Minnesota]] Human Rights Library}}</ref> Finland recognized the Sámi as a "people" in 1995, but has yet to ratify ILO Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.

Sámi in Finland have had access to Sámi language instruction in some schools since the 1970s, and language rights were established in 1992. There are three Sámi languages spoken in Finland: [[North Sámi]], [[Skolt Sámi]] and [[Inari Sámi language|Inari Sámi]]. Of these languages, Inari Sámi, which is spoken by about 350 speakers, is the only one that is used entirely within the borders of Finland, mainly in the municipality of Inari.

The case of J. Lansman versus Finland concerned a challenge by Sámi reindeer herders in northern Finland to the Finnish Central Forestry Board's plans to approve logging and construction of roads in an area used by the herdsmen as winter pasture and spring calving grounds.<ref name="Osherenko">{{Cite web |last=Osherenko |first=Gail |date=1 April 2001 |title=Indigenous rights in Russia: Is title to land essential for cultural survival? |url=http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/international-law/1112279-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511104207/http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/international-law/1112279-1.html |archive-date=11 May 2011 |website=Georgetown International Environmental Law Review}}</ref> Finland has denied any aboriginal rights or land rights to the Sámi people;<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Banting |first1=Keith |last2=Kymlicka |first2=Will |title=Multiculturalism Policies in Contemporary Democracies: Finland |url=http://www.queensu.ca/mcp/indigenouspeople/evidence-1/Finland.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616140234/http://www.queensu.ca/mcp/indigenouspeople/evidence-1/Finland.html |archive-date=16 June 2012 |website=[[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]]}}</ref> in Finland, non-Sámi can herd reindeer.