Eero Aarnio, senior adviser of legislative affairs at the Ministry of Justice, said the legislation could follow that introduced in the northern part of Norway last year.
There a new body, Finnmarkseiendommen, was formed and all the state-owned land was transferred to it along with nearly all land ownership rights. The rights to water reserves and minerals and the right to sell land were excluded.
The legislation in Upper Lapland could be passed within a year.
Mr Aarnio said the aim was to improve Sami land ownership affairs to the extent that the UN International Labour Organisation’s convention on the rights of indigenous people could also be accepted by Finland.
