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<P align="justify">The Saami Parliam … <P align="justify">The Saami Parliament in Sweden started its activities in 1993. </p> <p> The situation of the Saami people as an indigenous people is not as strong as in Finland and Norway, and that s why the establishment of its own elected Saami body was the most important goal of the Saami issues in Sweden.</p>
<P align="justify">The constitution of Sweden does not recognise the Saami in Sweden as an indigenous people, although Ch.1 §2 of the Constitution Act of Sweden contains general provisions for the right of ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities to safeguard and develop their own cultural and social life.The Constitution Act makes no mention of the Saami or of indigenous peoples. The legal status of the Saami in Sweden has been dealt with since the end of 1970s in numerous advisory committees, one of which was set up 1982. The Commission completed a report called the <em>Saami Rights Report</em>. This report was published in three parts during the period 1986 to 1990.The first part of the report, on the Saami s position in relation to international law, was published in the spring of 1986. The second part, concerned with the Saami laws and the Saami parliament, was published in June 1989. The last part, on the Saami language was published in 1990.</p>
<P align="justify"> The committee proposed that a mention of the legal status of the Saami as an indigenous people be included in the Constitution Act. This was, however, rejected by the Swedish government. The so-called Tax Fell Case (Skattefjällsmålet) dealt with a dispute between the Saami people and the Swedish state over land ownership rights. The case was disputed at different legal instances for fifteen years, but the final judgment of the Swedish Supreme Court was a disappointment to the Saami, as it ruled that they had no rights of ownership to the land or waters in dispute. However, the decision found that reindeer herders have a strong claim to usufruct of the land where reindeer husbandry has traditionally been practised. This case finally prompted the authorities to consider the need for the establishment of a progressive organ, and the Saami Parliament Act came into force in 1993, the International Year of Indigenous Peoples. After it was passed by the Swedish Parliament in 1992.</p>
<P align="justify">The establishment of a Saami Parliament was the most important proposal of the <em>Saami Rights Report</em> (Samerätttsudredningen; SOU 1989:41). According to the Saami Parliament Act (SFS1992:1433, chapter 2§1), the Parliament is an official body whose purpose is to further the preservation of Saami culture and to this end put forward initiatives, to make proposals that will promote Saami culture, direct the Saami linguistic work, to participate in society planning and to monitor that the Saami needs are taken into consideration, among others reindeer husbandry's interests in the use of land and water and to dissent information on Saami matters.</p>
<P align="justify">The Saami Parliament is also a state authority, but it has been granted the freedom to develop its own procedural framework. Its tasks include the distribution of cultural grants to various cultural bodies and associations in accordance with the common needs of the Saami people, the nomination of the Board of Governors of the Saami School, and the direction of measures to promote the Saami language.</p>
<P align="justify">The Saami Parliament has 31 members, from among whom it appoints a full-time President and a Board/Government consisting of a maximum of seven members. The members of the Board elect a chairman from among their number. The Secretariat is located in Kiruna.</p>
<P align="justify"> The Saami Parliament in Sweden represents a central element in the development of indigenous dimension in Swedish democracy. The beginning of the Parliament has been a little difficult politically, and its future will to a great extent depend on whether the Swedish authorities are willing to give the same degree of development as has been witnessed in Norway and Finland.</p>witnessed in Norway and Finland.</p> +
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