Oyvind Ravna recently defended his PhD thesis at the University of Tromso, in the faculty of law. Born in Tana, Ravna has worked for over a decade as a Land Consolidation Judge (jordskifterettsleder  ved Finnmark jordskifterett). In September he will taking up a new position at the University of Tromso as an associate professor (førsteamanuensis ved Det juridiske fakultetet, Universitetet i Tromsø), investigating themes related to Sami land rights in general, with a focus on the land rights of reindeer herders. He has kindly agreed to be interviewed about his work on the Reindeer Portal.

His thesis (in Norwegian) was entitled Rettsutgreiing og bruksordning i reindriftsområder. En undersøkelse av om beitebruk i reindriftsom¬råder kan gjøres mer tjenlig ved bruk av jordskiftelovgivningens virkemidlar.  It was a detailed investigation into the working of the Land Consolidation Act from 1979 and especially the amendment to the same act from 1996, which introduced land consolidation as a means of solving disputes in reindeer husbandry. Ravna found that while the Court operates effectively for farmers and other land owners, it has been deficient when it comes to the rights and interests of reindeer herders when it comes settling disputes between reindeer herders and farmers. Ravna made a series of proposals as to how the Act might better service reindeer herders – the establishment of a special reindeer court along the lines of the current court, special education to improve lawyers and judges knowledge about reindeer husbandry and their cultural competence related to Sami issues and language, and he suggested how the legislation might be reworked to take account of its current deficiencies.

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