The Cumulative Impact of Litigation on Sami Reindeer Herding Communities

How does litigation affect Sami Reindeer Herding Communities? Reindeer Herding Communities (RHCs) in Sweden are a form of economic cooperatives typically consisting of several Sami families practicing reindeer husbandry in a designated area, as regulated by the Reindeer Husbandry Act, which also stipulates that reindeer husbandry is a right of the Sami Indigenous people which can only be practice by members of RHCs. In recent decades, RHCs have been involved in several high-profile court cases on Indigenous rights to land ownership, usage and management – such as the much-publicized Girjas Case, in which the Supreme Court found that Girjas RHC had stronger rights to hunting and fishing on the lands it uses for its reindeer herding than the state as landowner. However, beyond such landmark cases, RHCs are also involved in numerous other judicial processes of a more mundane nature. While the frequency of litigation varies considerably across RHCs, the top litigants are involved in on average 5-6 discrete judicial processes every year. In this paper, we go beyond the prevalent focus on high-profile, landmark cases to investigate how this constant litigation affects the RHCs. We have gathered data on all judicial processes (civil law lawsuits, administrative appeals, permits processes, etc) for all 51 RHCs in Sweden in the past 10 years, as well as interview data with key actors (RHC representatives, legal counsels, etc). The frequency of litigation varies considerably across the RHCs, with the top litigants being involved in on average 5-6 discrete judicial processes every year. Questions we pursue are why we find these patterns and how the constant litigation affects RHCs, given that they are small-scale cooperatives with very limited financial resources and limited access to legal aid, yet find themselves having to participate in legal and judicial processe to protect their interests and rights against considerably stronger actors, including private and state-owned companies, private landowners, municipalities, and the state. Our findings suggest that the constant litigation on RHCs adds an additional burden on Sami reindeer herding as an Indigenous livelihood, in addition to resource stress caused by climate change and the cumulative burdens of intrusions from extractivist industries.