UN treaty bodies issue three views concerning granting of mineral exploration permits and reservations on traditional Sami territory

On 10 October 2024, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child published three views concerning Finland in response to individual complaints. Two of the communications concerned the granting of a mineral exploration permit and one the granting of an area reservation on Sami people’s traditional territory.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child found that Finland has violated article 8 (the right to preserve one’s identity, nationality, name and family relations), article 27 (the right to an adequate standard of living) and article 30 (the right of a child belonging to a minority or who is indigenous to enjoy their culture, practice their religion and use their language) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, all read alone and in conjunction with article 2(1) (non-discrimination) and article 12 (respect for the child’s views) of the Convention. The CESCR found that Finland has violated article 15(1)(a) (the right to take part in cultural life) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, read alone and in conjunction with article 1 (peoples’ right of self-determination), article 2(2) (non-discrimination) and article 11 (the right to an adequate standard of living) of the Covenant.

The committees explain their finding of violations by stating that Finland granted a mineral exploration permit and an area reservation without performing a proper impact assessment and without obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of the Sami community.

According to the committees, Finland should provide the claimants effective reparation for the violations suffered, including by effectively revising the decisions concerning the mineral exploration project and the area reservation, based on the free, prior and informed consent of the claimants and an independent assessment of the impacts on the complainants’ rights. The committees also found that Finland is under an obligation to take all steps necessary to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future.

Finland must inform both committees within 180 days of the measures that it has taken to give effect to the committees’ views.

The views:

Views adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, concerning communication No. 172/2022 (PDF, 326 kt)

Views adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, concerning communications Nos. 251/2022 and 289/2022 (PDF, 330 kt)