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Konstitutionellt kritiskt dömande. Förändringen av nordiska domares attityder under två sekel

Sunnqvist, Martin LU orcid (2014)
Abstract
In recent years, the supreme courts in the Nordic countries have set aside statutes as contrary to the constitution of the country or to the ECHR. A much debated question is whether the courts have gone too far – or if they have waited too long to take on this task.



In this dissertation, the task of Nordic judges to critically examine the compatibility of legislation with constitutional norms is put in its historical context. With the help of a comparative legal historical method, the relationship between the judiciary and the other two branches of government, and between the constitutions and the other types of norms, is analyzed. The analysis takes as its point of departure the constitutional changes that took place in... (More)
In recent years, the supreme courts in the Nordic countries have set aside statutes as contrary to the constitution of the country or to the ECHR. A much debated question is whether the courts have gone too far – or if they have waited too long to take on this task.



In this dissertation, the task of Nordic judges to critically examine the compatibility of legislation with constitutional norms is put in its historical context. With the help of a comparative legal historical method, the relationship between the judiciary and the other two branches of government, and between the constitutions and the other types of norms, is analyzed. The analysis takes as its point of departure the constitutional changes that took place in the Nordic countries in 1809, 1814 and 1849.



The task of judges to review whether legislation is consistent with constitutional norms is in this dissertation called constitutional critical judging. The focus is on how the attitudes of judges toward this task have changed over the past two centuries.



The arguments now supporting constitutional critical judging have been put forward in the legal discussion in all the Nordic countries since the early 19th century. The effect of these arguments has varied between the different countries and between different time periods. Now that constitutional norms are not to be interpreted only by the national legislator, but also by international bodies, the judges have gained a new position: The constitutional norms are materialized in the courts. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Under senare år har de högsta domstolarna i Norden i ett antal uppmärksammade avgöranden åsidosatt lagar, som stått i strid med respektive lands grundlag eller med EKMR. En omdebatterad fråga är om domstolarna har gått för långt – eller om de har väntat för länge med att ta på sig denna uppgift.



I denna bok sätts de nordiska domarnas uppgift att kritiskt granska lagars förenlighet med konstitutionella normer in i sitt historiska sammanhang. Med hjälp av en komparativ rättshistorisk metod analyseras domstolarnas förhållande till de andra båda statsmakterna och grundlagarnas förhållande till lagar och andra typer av normer. Analysen tar sin utgångspunkt i de konstitutionella... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Under senare år har de högsta domstolarna i Norden i ett antal uppmärksammade avgöranden åsidosatt lagar, som stått i strid med respektive lands grundlag eller med EKMR. En omdebatterad fråga är om domstolarna har gått för långt – eller om de har väntat för länge med att ta på sig denna uppgift.



I denna bok sätts de nordiska domarnas uppgift att kritiskt granska lagars förenlighet med konstitutionella normer in i sitt historiska sammanhang. Med hjälp av en komparativ rättshistorisk metod analyseras domstolarnas förhållande till de andra båda statsmakterna och grundlagarnas förhållande till lagar och andra typer av normer. Analysen tar sin utgångspunkt i de konstitutionella förändringar som ägde rum i Norden år 1809, 1814 och 1849.



Domarnas uppgift att granska att lagar och andra föreskrifter stämmer med konstitutionella normer sammanfattas under begreppet konstitutionellt kritiskt dömande. I fokus står hur domarnas attityder till denna uppgift har förändrats under de senaste två århundradena.



De argument som nu stödjer ett konstitutionellt kritiskt dömande har förts fram i den rättsliga diskussionen i alla de nordiska länderna sedan tidigt 1800-tal. Argumentens genomslag har dock varierat stort mellan de olika länderna och mellan olika tidsperioder. När nu konstitutionella normer inte tolkas bara av den nationella lagstiftaren utan även av internationella organ, har domarna kommit i en ny position: Det är i domstolarna som de konstitutionella normerna förverkligas och ges sitt konkreta innehåll. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Sunde, Jørn Øyrehagen, University of Bergen
organization
alternative title
Constitutional Critical Judging. The Change in the Attitudes of Nordic Judges During two Centuries
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Legal history, Comparative law, Constitutional law, Rättshistoria, Komparativ rätt, Konstitutionell rätt
pages
866 pages
publisher
Jure
defense location
Pufendorfsalen, Juridiska institutionen, Lilla Gråbrödersgatan 3C, Lund
defense date
2014-04-14 10:15:00
ISBN
978-91-7223-559-5
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
0e1ed661-5543-4c23-984f-d6c102b6ee68 (old id 4354481)
alternative location
https://olinfoundation.com/rb-71/
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:38:13
date last changed
2022-09-27 15:11:37
@phdthesis{0e1ed661-5543-4c23-984f-d6c102b6ee68,
  abstract     = {{In recent years, the supreme courts in the Nordic countries have set aside statutes as contrary to the constitution of the country or to the ECHR. A much debated question is whether the courts have gone too far – or if they have waited too long to take on this task.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In this dissertation, the task of Nordic judges to critically examine the compatibility of legislation with constitutional norms is put in its historical context. With the help of a comparative legal historical method, the relationship between the judiciary and the other two branches of government, and between the constitutions and the other types of norms, is analyzed. The analysis takes as its point of departure the constitutional changes that took place in the Nordic countries in 1809, 1814 and 1849.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The task of judges to review whether legislation is consistent with constitutional norms is in this dissertation called constitutional critical judging. The focus is on how the attitudes of judges toward this task have changed over the past two centuries.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The arguments now supporting constitutional critical judging have been put forward in the legal discussion in all the Nordic countries since the early 19th century. The effect of these arguments has varied between the different countries and between different time periods. Now that constitutional norms are not to be interpreted only by the national legislator, but also by international bodies, the judges have gained a new position: The constitutional norms are materialized in the courts.}},
  author       = {{Sunnqvist, Martin}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7223-559-5}},
  keywords     = {{Legal history; Comparative law; Constitutional law; Rättshistoria; Komparativ rätt; Konstitutionell rätt}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{Jure}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Konstitutionellt kritiskt dömande. Förändringen av nordiska domares attityder under två sekel}},
  url          = {{https://olinfoundation.com/rb-71/}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}