BOOKS: Nigila on Pluralism/Bankes and Koivurova on the Proposed Nordic Saami Convention

Hart Publishing has published, among other texts, the following:

Pluralism and European Private Law

Edited by Leone Niglia

European private law has hitherto tended to be conceptualised firmly around ideas of unity and harmony. Yet the discourse within other areas of European law, notably constitutional law scholarship, visibly adopts pluralist perspectives. This book seeks to bridge the gap between 'public' and 'private' law by looking at European private law from various pluralist positions and by investigating old and new ways in which to understand legal pluralism in general. It fills a gap in the wide literature on legal pluralism, as the first book entirely dedicated to offering an insight into legal pluralism from the vantage point of the private law domain. The book addresses critically issues such as what pluralism really means in private law and what conceptions of pluralism it embodies, including discussion about the outer boundaries of any of the pluralist understandings. Contributions address comparative, critical, historical, theoretical and normative aspects. The book provides an opportunity to engage innovatively with problematic conceptual issues that inform the work of European private law scholars, including the debate on the Common Frame of Reference.

The Proposed Nordic Saami Convention

National and International Dimensions of Indigenous Property Rights

Edited by Nigel Bankes and Timo Koivurova

In 2005 an expert group representing the governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Saami parliaments of these countries agreed upon a draft text of a Nordic Saami Convention. Key parts of the text deal with the recognition of Saami land and resource rights. More recently the three governments have embarked on negotiations to move from this draft text to a final convention that may be adopted and ratified by all three countries. Negotiations commenced in the Spring of 2011 and should be completed within five years. This collection of essays explores the national and international dimensions of indigenous property rights and the draft Convention which recognises the Saami as one people divided by international boundaries.

Part one of the book seeks to provide a global and theoretical context for these developments in the Nordic countries, with a series of essays dealing with the moral and legal reasons for recognising indigenous property interests and different conceptualisations of the relationship between indigenous peoples and settler societies, including recognition, reconciliation and pluralism. Part two of the book examines some international legal issues associated with the Convention, including the background to the Convention. Part three turns to examine aspects of the recognition of Saami property interests in each of the three Nordic states, while Part four provides some comparative experiences, examining the recognition of indigenous property rights in a number of jurisdictions, including Canada, Australia and a number of South American states. An additional essay considers gender issues in relation to indigenous property rights.