The Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission in an International Context

The Sámi Law Symposium 2023 - Reconciliation as a political and legal problem: What needs to happen? 

June 1, 2023, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission delivered its report to the Storting. What are the key political and legal challenges, and how should Norwegian society move forward?

This year, we will first have a roundtable discussion in English, followed by a legal policy panel debate in Norwegian. 

Indigenous, international, and Norwegian perspectives: How do we understand and operationalize the notion of reconciliation?

13:00–16:00, lunch served from 12:30.

This panel gathers Norway-based academics to discuss the possibilities and problems of transitional justice in the Norwegian context.

The Commission to Investigate the Norwegianization Policy and Injustice against the Sámi, Kvens/Norwegian Finns, and the Forest Finns was tasked with performing a historical survey, carrying out an investigation of the Norwegianization policy, and proposing measures to contribute to further reconciliation.  

• How does the Commission and its work compare with other Norwegian truth and reconciliation initiatives past and present?
• How do the Report and its recommendations for reconciliation compare with other transitional justice initiatives involving indigenous populations? What lessons can be learned from the legacy of these initiatives?
• In the historical context of multiple centuries of Sámi resistance to and engagement with the Norwegian State, what type of opportunities and pathways for social change can be found in the work of the Commission and what does it take to engender such change?

Participants

• Eva Josefsen (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)
• Else Grete Broderstad (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)
• Jemima García-Godos (University of Oslo)
• Elin Skaar (Chr. Michelsen institute / University of Bergen)
• Carola Lingaas (VID Specialized University)
• Anne Julie Semb (University of Oslo)
• Hans Morten Haugen (VID Specialized University)
• Moderator: Hadi Lile (Østfold University College)