"Ett essentiale af friheten" – En studie av den svenska tryckfriheten 1766-1812
(2016) LAGF03 20161Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Den 2 december 2016 firar den svenska tryckfriheten 250 år. Tryckfrihetens första halvsekel var en turbulent tid då inte mindre än fem olika tryckfrihetsförordningar infördes. Denna uppsats undersöker perioden 1766-1812 ur ett rättshistoriskt perspektiv med frågeställningar kring vilken historisk och idémässig kontext som låg till grund för förändringarna. Detta görs med fokus på den värdsliga censuren.
1766 års förordning var ett resultat både av en upplysningsfilosofisk idébakgrund och av den rådande politiska situationen. Förordningen var mycket liberal och unik för sin tid. När Gustav III ersatte den med sin egen tryckfrihetsförordning 1774 motiverades den med argument i enighet med upplysningsidealen. I verkligheten gav dock... (More) - Den 2 december 2016 firar den svenska tryckfriheten 250 år. Tryckfrihetens första halvsekel var en turbulent tid då inte mindre än fem olika tryckfrihetsförordningar infördes. Denna uppsats undersöker perioden 1766-1812 ur ett rättshistoriskt perspektiv med frågeställningar kring vilken historisk och idémässig kontext som låg till grund för förändringarna. Detta görs med fokus på den värdsliga censuren.
1766 års förordning var ett resultat både av en upplysningsfilosofisk idébakgrund och av den rådande politiska situationen. Förordningen var mycket liberal och unik för sin tid. När Gustav III ersatte den med sin egen tryckfrihetsförordning 1774 motiverades den med argument i enighet med upplysningsidealen. I verkligheten gav dock regleringen inte uttryck för en liberal tryckfrihet, det var framförallt av politiskt egenintresse förordningen kom till stånd. En liknande historia gäller 1792 års förordning författad av Gustav Adolf Reuterholm, som sägs varit inspirerad av den tid han spenderade i den revolutionära Paris 1789. Den hårt kritiserade förordningen, både vad gäller tryckfrihetsvänlighet och juridiskt hantverk föregicks av högfärdiga ord om frihet, men kom att lägga grunden för ett utbrett förtryck. Den liberala tryckfriheten återkom inte fören införandet av en ny konstitution och nya tryckfrihetsförordningar 1810 och 1812.
Tryckfrihetens utveckling var således mycket komplicerad under perioden. 1766 års förordning var unik för sin tid, men tryckfrihetstraditionen bröts till stor del under den gustavianska eran, under falska flagg försökte makthavarna framställa sig i bättre dager än vad deras agerande lät påvisa. Till stor del återupptogs dock traditionen vid stiftandet av 1810 och 1812 års förordningar, och således kan 1766 års förordning sägas utgöra en grund för den svenska tryckfrihetstraditionen. (Less) - Abstract
- The Swedish freedom of the press celebrates its 250th anniversary on December 2, 2016. Its first half-century was however a turbulent time when no less than five different acts on the freedom of the press were introduced between 1766 and 1812. This paper examines this period from a legal historical perspective. The paper aims to answer questions concerning the historical context and the idea basis for the changes. The focus is mainly on the political censorship.
The freedom of the press act of 1766 was the result both of a philosophical struggle with basis in the enlightenment and of the current political situation. The regulation was unique for its time with its liberal approach to the press. When Gustav III replaced it with his own act... (More) - The Swedish freedom of the press celebrates its 250th anniversary on December 2, 2016. Its first half-century was however a turbulent time when no less than five different acts on the freedom of the press were introduced between 1766 and 1812. This paper examines this period from a legal historical perspective. The paper aims to answer questions concerning the historical context and the idea basis for the changes. The focus is mainly on the political censorship.
The freedom of the press act of 1766 was the result both of a philosophical struggle with basis in the enlightenment and of the current political situation. The regulation was unique for its time with its liberal approach to the press. When Gustav III replaced it with his own act of the freedom of the press in 1774 he motivated it with arguments from the enlightenment. In reality, however, the regulation does not make way for a liberal press, it was above all else, political self-interest that motivated the regulation. A similar story applies to the case of the act of 1792, authored by Gustav Adolf Reuterholm, who is said to have been inspired by the time he spent in revolutionary Paris in 1789. The much-criticized regulation, both in terms of its attitude towards the press and in terms of legal craftsmanship, was preceded by bombastic arguments for freedom, but came to lay the foundation for widespread repression. The liberal freedom of the press returned with the introduction of a new constitution and new regulations of the press in 1810 and 1812.
The development of the freedom of the press in the early days was thus very complicated. The act of 1766 was unique for its time, but the liberal tradition was endangered during the Gustavian era when the rulers tried to portray themselves in a better manner than their actions demonstrated. In large parts, however, the tradition resumed with the acts of 1810 and 1812, and thus the act of 1766 can be said to constitute a basis for the Swedish press freedom tradition. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8874460
- author
- Reutervik, Viktor LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- rättshistoria, legal history, tryckfrihet
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8874460
- date added to LUP
- 2016-07-04 11:48:31
- date last changed
- 2016-07-04 11:48:31
@misc{8874460,
abstract = {{The Swedish freedom of the press celebrates its 250th anniversary on December 2, 2016. Its first half-century was however a turbulent time when no less than five different acts on the freedom of the press were introduced between 1766 and 1812. This paper examines this period from a legal historical perspective. The paper aims to answer questions concerning the historical context and the idea basis for the changes. The focus is mainly on the political censorship.
The freedom of the press act of 1766 was the result both of a philosophical struggle with basis in the enlightenment and of the current political situation. The regulation was unique for its time with its liberal approach to the press. When Gustav III replaced it with his own act of the freedom of the press in 1774 he motivated it with arguments from the enlightenment. In reality, however, the regulation does not make way for a liberal press, it was above all else, political self-interest that motivated the regulation. A similar story applies to the case of the act of 1792, authored by Gustav Adolf Reuterholm, who is said to have been inspired by the time he spent in revolutionary Paris in 1789. The much-criticized regulation, both in terms of its attitude towards the press and in terms of legal craftsmanship, was preceded by bombastic arguments for freedom, but came to lay the foundation for widespread repression. The liberal freedom of the press returned with the introduction of a new constitution and new regulations of the press in 1810 and 1812.
The development of the freedom of the press in the early days was thus very complicated. The act of 1766 was unique for its time, but the liberal tradition was endangered during the Gustavian era when the rulers tried to portray themselves in a better manner than their actions demonstrated. In large parts, however, the tradition resumed with the acts of 1810 and 1812, and thus the act of 1766 can be said to constitute a basis for the Swedish press freedom tradition.}},
author = {{Reutervik, Viktor}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{"Ett essentiale af friheten" – En studie av den svenska tryckfriheten 1766-1812}},
year = {{2016}},
}