A/HRC/33/42/Add.3 V. Country analysis A. Norway 1. General legal and policy framework 18. In addition to being the first country to ratify the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), Norway voted in favour of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Norway has incorporated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination into its domestic law.6 The obligation of Norway to secure the rights of the Sami people also arises under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. In addition, Norway has endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and in November 2015, it adopted a national action plan to give practical effect to that endorsement,7 although the plan appears to focus on Norwegian companies operating abroad rather than on business activities and their impact on human rights within Norway. 19. Following an amendment adopted in 1988, the Norwegian Constitution establishes an obligation on the authorities to protect the Sami, their culture and traditional livelihoods. The Sami Act of 1987 establishes the Sami Parliament, giving it the dual function of serving as an elected political body for the Sami and carrying out administrative duties in various areas affecting Sami people. 2. Self-determination 20. In 2005, the Sami Parliament and the Government entered into an agreement concerning consultation procedures in matters that might affect Sami interests directly,8 agreeing that consultations should continue as long as the Sami Parliament and State authorities considered it possible to achieve agreement. While representatives of the Sami Parliament indicate that the agreement has strengthened cooperation, they also shared the concern that its implementation remains particularly challenging in relation to energy development projects and reindeer husbandry. In addition, representatives of the Sami Parliament expressed frustration that the consultation agreement does not cover financial initiatives or budgetary measures, and that a previous agreement between the Government and the Sami Parliament that procedures for financial instruments would be dealt with in a separate process has yet to materialize. 3. Rights to lands, water and natural resources 21. The Finnmark Act of 2005 provides a potential foundation for the protection of Sami land and resource rights in Finnmark County. Under the Act, ownership of land and resources in Finnmark was transferred from State to local ownership, and the Finnmark Estate was established as the new landowner. The Estate serves multiple functions, including as a resource management agency, caretaker of the interest of local inhabitants and commercial entity. 6 7 8 See the Human Rights Act (1999), sect. 2, and the Anti-Discrimination Act (2005), sect. 2. See www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/business_hr/id2457726/. See the procedures for consultations between State authorities and the Sami Parliament [Norway], signed 11 May 2005, sect. 2. 7