There is a need for translation of legal terminology in Northern Sámi language for the Sámi community. The Interreg Aurora funded project “Legal Terminology of Administrative Laws in the Northern Sámi in Finland and Norway” has successfully developed and harmonized administrative legal terminology in the Northern Sámi language. The project also aimed to ensure the quality of translations of administrative laws and to harmonise the Sámi legal language across national borders.
Review and translation of administrative laws
During the project, several key administrative key administrative laws and their Northern Sámi translations were reviewed. As a concrete result, the administrative laws of Norway and Finland were translated, and work began on updating the Northern Sámi translation of the Sámi Language Act (Finland). In addition, administrative legal terminology has been collected within the project, that include explanations of terms in Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian. In total, there were collected 2200 terms and about the half of the terms were checked and renewed on northern Sami language. The vocabulary work has been done in close collaboration with Sami Giellagaldu and the language services of the Prime Minister’s Office in the Finnish Government ensuring linguistic quality and cultural authenticity.
Finn Arne Bieski-Selfors has worked in the project with quality-assurement of the use of terms in the present translation of the Norwegian Local Government Act into North Sami, and in this connection has systematized the use of terms, as well as suggested a number of new terms.
Finn Arne explains “in today’s society, legal provisions are of great importance also to the Samis. This also applies to administrative law, including laws concerning local administration, in which the Sami participate. In the formulation of Sami legal terms, it must be taken into account that Northern Sami language terms should be able to function in relation to three different state legal systems, both in Norway, Sweden and Finland, so that the Northern Sami language can be maintained as a common language across national borders. It must also be taken into account that there is a separate Sami legal system alongside the state legal systems, with partly different terminology, which does not always fit well into the terminology of the state legal systems. In order to safeguard these considerations, it may be necessary to draw up more detailed guidelines for the development of Sami legal terms.”
Added value of cross-border cooperation
The cross-border cooperation between the project partners Sámediggi (Saamelaiskäräjät) in Finland and Ségi ealáhus- ja guorahallanguovddáš (Samisk nærings- og utredningssenter) in Norway has enabled the development of a broader and more comprehensive terminology, which has improved the availability of Sámi-language services and increased awareness of the Sámi language and culture. This can contribute to a positive impact on the lives of the Sámi population. By understanding and using legal terminology effectively, individuals and institutions can promote the integrity and fairness of the legal system.
Mapping the needs of legal institutions
The project has mapped the needs of the Norwegian and Finnish legal instances for North Sámi legal terminology, The results of the survey show that although some organizations use North Sámi in documents and online content, translation and interpretation needs are still significant. It is clear from the survey that services provided in the Sámi language are not yet equally implemented. The project shows broad interest in further development and a potential future Nordic Sámi legal terminology project. A larger project in the field of legal terminology is planned.
Read the project report Legal Terminology of Administrative Laws in the Northern Sámi in Finland and Norway
Read more about the project on the Aurora website Legal Terminology of Administrative Laws in the Northern Sámi in Finland and Norway
