Sami association wins hunting rights battle in Sweden

Sweden's top court on Thursday granted a Sami association in the far north the right to regulate local hunting and fishing activities, scoring a legal precedent in favour of the country's indigenous community.

The Supreme Court granted the Girjas Sami association the "exclusive right" to administer hunting and fishing privileges on its traditional lands, stressing that the state, which owns the land, did not have this right.

The court cited the association's right by tradition "from time immemorial," meaning the association had proven it had used the lands for centuries.

In the ruling, which was met by applause from representatives of the minority group dressed in traditional colourful garb, the court said the right extended to the association's entire area, with the exception of arable land, and that it could henceforth be exercised "without the state's approval."