Legislative Ideas of the Russian Parliament on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the North in the Period from 1990s till 2024: Barriers and Priorities
https://doi.org/10.21684/2412-2343-2025-12-3-176-199
Abstract
The article describes the key legislative initiatives on the rights of indigenous small-numbered peoples of Russia introduced in the period from the 1990s to 2024. The adoption of the new democratic Constitution of Russia in 1993 instigated the development of indigenous people’s rights and their guarantees introduced by the Article 69 aimed to protect indigenous peoples’ ethnocultural identity. At the same time, basic federal laws in the field of indigenous communities’ self-government and traditional environmental management appeared only in the early 2000s. However, a broad public and parliamentary discussion took place continuously, which characterizes Russia as one of the most advanced jurisdictions in the world in the field of guarantees of the indigenous communities’ rights. This study provides an overview of 37 bills on the rights of the indigenous population of Russia.
Supporting agencies: This research work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (the State task project No. FSRU-2023-004).
About the Authors
E. Gladun
University of Tyumen
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Elena Gladun – Professor, Law and Governance School
38 Lenina St., Tyumen, 625000
M. Zadorin
Northern (Arctic) Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Maksim Zadorin – Associate Professor, Department of State and International Law
59 Lomonosova Ave., Arkhangelsk, 163000
K. Zaikov
Northern (Arctic) Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Konstantin Zaikov – Associate Professor, Department of Regional Studies, International Relations and Political Science, Higher School of Social Sciences, Humanities and International Communication
2 Lomonosova Ave., Arkhangelsk, 163000
References
1. Abimbola, S., Lo, S. N., & Stewart, P. (2023). Enshrining a first nations voice to Australian parliament will advance global health equity. The Lancet. Global Health, 11(12), E1844–E1846. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00466-7
2. Basov, A. S. (2018). Dialogue and bureaucratic procedures: Ethnological impact assessment in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Siberian Historical Research, 2, 91–123. https://doi.org/10.17223/2312461X/20/6. (In Russian).
3. Bird, K. (2014). Ethnic quotas and ethnic representation worldwide. International Political Science Review, 35(1), 12–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512113507798
4. Espín-León, A., Jimeno-Morenilla, M. L., Pertegal-Felices, A., & López, J. A. (2019). Identification of factors of indigenous ethnic identity: A case study on the Waorani Amazonian ethnicity. Research & Innovation Forum, 515–524. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30809-4_47
5. Fahmi, C., & Siddiq Armia, M. (2022). Protecting indigenous collective land property in Indonesia under international human rights norms. Journal of Southeast Asian Human Rights, 6(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.19184/jseahr.v6i1.30242
6. Fondahl, G., Filippova, V., & Savvinova, A. (2023). Introducing a registry of indigenous persons in Russia: Rationale and challenges. Space Population Societies, 2020/1-2. https://doi.org/10.4000/eps.9582
7. Fuentes, C. A., & Fernández, J. E. (2022). The four worlds of recognition of indigenous rights. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(13), 3202–3220. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1797478
8. Funk, D. (2018). “Ethnological expert assessment”: A Russian experience in evaluating the social impact of industrial projects. Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie, 6, 66–113. https://doi.org/10.31857/S086954150002453-8. (In Russian).
9. Gartner, D. R., Maples, C., Nash, M., & Howard-Bobiwash, H. (2023). Misracialization of indigenous people in population health and mortality studies: A scoping review to establish promising practices. Epidemiologic Reviews, 45(1), 63–81. https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxad001
10. Gilbert, J. (2007). Nomadic territories: A human rights approach to nomadic peoples’ land rights. Human Rights Law Review, 7(4), 681–716. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngm030
11. Gilbert, J. (2012). Land rights and nomadic peoples: using international law at the local level. Nomadic Peoples, 16(2), 78–83.
12. Gupta, J., Hildering, A., & Misiedjan, D. (2014). Indigenous people’s right to water under international law: Alegal pluralism perspective. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 11, 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2014.09.015
13. Gussen, B. F. (2017). A comparative analysis if constitutional recognition of aboriginal peoples. Melbourne University Law Review, 40(3), 867–904.
14. Hughes, M. M. (2018). The combination of gender and ethnic quotas in electoral politics. In Gender parity and multicultural feminism: Towards anew synthesis (pp. 97–118). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198829621.003.0004
15. Kryazhkov, V. A. (2022). Indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Russian Far East: The evolution of legal status from tsarist times to the present day. State and Law, 6, 68–78. https://doi.org/10.31857/S102694520020523-6. (In Russian).
16. Kryazhkov, V. A. (2023). Federal legislation on the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russia: Novels of recent years. State and Law, 4, 72–83. https://doi.org/10.31857/S102694520025623-6. (In Russian).
17. Kryazhkov, V. A. (2023). Places of traditional residence and traditional economic activity of indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Russian Far East: Legal aspect. State and Law, 8, 84–95. https://doi.org/10.31857/S102694520027265-2. (In Russian).
18. Kryazhkov, V., & Sukhanov, K. (2023). National minorities and small indigenous peoples in Russia: Legal problems of their identification. Comparative Constitutional Review, 32(6), 90–115. https://doi.org/10.21128/1812-7126-2023-6-90-115. (In Russian).
19. Kulwinder, S. G. (2021). Right to cultural identity of indigenous peoples under international human rights law. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4637001. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4637001
20. Kuokkanen, R. (2019). Indigenous self-government structures in Canada, Greenland, and Sápmi. In Restructuring Relations: Indigenous Self-Determination, Governance, and Gender (pp. 60–136). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190913281.003.0003
21. Madden, R., Coleman, C. E., Mashford-Pringle, A., & Connolly, M. (2019). Indigenous identification: Past, present and a possible future. Statistical Journal of the IAOS, 35(10040), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3233/SJI-180467
22. Nelson, S. E., & Wilson, K. (2021). Rights and health versus rights to health: Bringing indigenous peoples’ legal rights into the spaces of health care services. Political Geography, 85, 102311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102311.
23. Pavlova, M., & Nikolaeva, S. (2022). On the importance of native consultants in ethnological impact assessment in Sakha Republic. Arctic Yearbook, 1–12. (In Russian).
24. Sarivaara, E., Maatta, K., & Uusiautti, S. (2013). Who is indigenous? Definition of indigeneity. European Scientific Journal. Special Edition, 1, 369–378.
25. Tan, N. (2022). Introduction: Quotas, parties and electoral design – mechanisms and effects of ethnic representation in diverse societies. Journal of Representative Democracy, 58(3), 339–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2022.2026813
26. Tan, N., & Preece, C. (2022). Ethnic quotas, political representation and equity in Asia Pacific. Journal of Representative Democracy, 58(3), 347–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2021.1989712
27. Van Genugten, W., Meijknecht, A., & Rombouts, B. (2014). Stateless indigenous people(s): The right to a nationality, including their own. Tilburg Law Review, 19(1–2), 98–107. https://doi.org/10.1163/22112596-01902028
28. Vivian, A., Jorgensen, M., & Reilly, A., et al. (2017). Indigenous self-government in the Australian Federation. Australian Indigenous Law Review, 20, 215–242.
29. Williams, M., & Schertzer, R. (2019). Is indigeneity like ethnicity? Theorizing and assessing models of indigenous political representation. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 52(4), 677–696. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423919000192
Review
For citations:
Gladun E., Zadorin M., Zaikov K. Legislative Ideas of the Russian Parliament on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the North in the Period from 1990s till 2024: Barriers and Priorities. BRICS Law Journal. 2025;12(3):176-199. https://doi.org/10.21684/2412-2343-2025-12-3-176-199
Views:
9
Email this article 