CCPR/C/83/DR/1023/2001 Page 11 subsection 2, is applied according to which the number of reindeer in the herds on the lands administered by the Committee may not exceed the sustainable productive capacity of the winter pastures. 7.10 Even after the reductions of the maximum number of reindeer by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in 1998/1999 and 2000/2001, the maximum number of reindeer allowed is more than three times the numbers allowed in the 1970s. In 1973, the number was no more than 1,051, whereas the highest number in 1990 was 10,398. The State party argues that the significant increase in the number of reindeer kept in herds in the 1980s and 1990s had adverse effects on the state of winter herding pastures. The high numbers of reindeer kept by the Herdsmen's Committee in their herds and the resulting adverse effects on herding lands, increase the need for additional feeding, thereby harming the reindeer husbandry. The State party adds that apart from the number of reindeers per herd, the difficulties of reindeer herdsmen and the poor state of herding lands are not so much affected by forestry as they are by other forms of forest use. For the State party, the Ministry's decision on the permitted number of reindeer does not alone constitute any substantiated evidence of the effects of certain individual loggings, but rather of the effects of the high numbers of reindeer kept in herds. 7.11 The State party submits that there has been regular contact between the authorities and the Herdsmen's Committee in the form of letters, negotiations and even various on-site visits. It notes that irrespective of whether the owner is the State or an individual citizen, the possible restrictions resulting from the right of the Sami, other Finns or nationals of other European Economic Area countries, to carry out reindeer herding cannot entirely deprive landowners of their own rights. It is also observed that reindeer herdsmen's committees within the Sami often have a mixed composition of both Sami and other Finns as their members. The relevant provisions of the Finnish Constitution are based on the principle that both population groups have, as performers of professional activities, equal status before the law and neither group may be placed in a more favourable position than the other, not even in respect of reindeer herding. Authors’ comments 8.1 On 5 December 2003, the authors commented on the State party’s submission. They dispute the claim that they may institute civil proceedings for damages against the State party. According to section 1 of chapter 5 of the Finnish Damages and Tort Liability Act of 1974, “damages shall constitute compensation for the personal injury and damage to property. Where the injury or damage has been caused by an act punishable by law or in the exercise of public authority, or in other cases, where there are especially weighty reasons for the same, damages shall also constitute compensation for economic loss that is not connected to personal injury or damage to property.” The National Forest and Park Service, which caused the damage, does not exercise public authority and the logging operations are not a criminal offence. Thus, compensation for financial damage could arise under the Act only if there are “especially weighty reasons”. The application of the concept of “especially weighty reasons” in Finnish case law has caused problems of interpretation, and “it is by no means clear that the provision could be applied to the damage to the authors”. In any event, such a process of litigation would be laborious, onerous and the costs prohibitive. The litigation would take several years to complete.