Right of public access to the wilderness

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The right of public access to the wilderness, or everyman's right, is a convention of property rights in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland and Norway, in addition to parts of Scotland (Shetland/Orkney), which allows the common public the right of access to the land, be it public or privately owned. Allemansrätten is the Swedish spelling, in Norwegian it is spelled Allemannsretten. The Finnish term is jokamiehenoikeus (singular nominative form) or jokamiehenoikeudet (plural nominative form).

1 History
2 Recreation
3 United Kingdom
4 See also
5 External links

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History

The historical roots for the convention can be found in that the right of appeal, in ancient times, included the opportunity of putting one's matter directly to the king. It was important that the ability to exercise this right could not be prohibited or prevented by material means, such as the ability to travel freely. The convention has never been codified but retains its validity as a customary law.

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Recreation

The convention is today the basis for recreation in these of the Nordic countries, providing the possibility to hike or camp on someone else's land (e.g. for up to three nights, or "temporarily"), to travel by boat on somebody else's waters, and to pick the wild flowers, mushrooms and berries. However — with the rights follows the responsibility, i.e. the obligation to do no harm, not to litter, not to damage rocks or crops. The right is also limited to areas outside the immediate vicinity of dwellings, gardens etc.

There are minor differences between the rules in the different countries. In Sweden exercising of the rights is overseen by the Swedish National Environmental Protection Agency - which can, for example, make the decision of force removal of a privately owned fence on private property if it would obstruct with peoples right to enter the property under 'allemansrätten' (see Swedish environmental law - 'Miljöbalken 26 kap. 11 §').

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United Kingdom

Similar rights, which were not present by law previously, have been granted in England and Wales with the passing of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, and in the whole of Scotland by the Land Reform Act (Scotland) 2003.

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