Medborgerligt inflytande i domstolar - Ett verktyg för rättssäkerhetsgaranti, eller en överhängande risk för rättshaveri?
(2019) LAGF03 20191Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- To have lay judges present in our courts is an concept that dates back 800 years in our legal history. Having normal citizens in the court was regarded as a protection from the states potential misuse of power. The lay judges did not have any form of law education. How much influence the lay judges have had over the administration of justice has varied over the years. In today´s system they have the right to vote in decisions, but they are quite few compared to how many lay judges they used to be. During the middle ages they were 12 lay judges present, but today they are only 3. Giving the citizens influence in the courts is a concept we have had in our legal system since the middle ages. Hower the function of the lay judges have changed... (More)
- To have lay judges present in our courts is an concept that dates back 800 years in our legal history. Having normal citizens in the court was regarded as a protection from the states potential misuse of power. The lay judges did not have any form of law education. How much influence the lay judges have had over the administration of justice has varied over the years. In today´s system they have the right to vote in decisions, but they are quite few compared to how many lay judges they used to be. During the middle ages they were 12 lay judges present, but today they are only 3. Giving the citizens influence in the courts is a concept we have had in our legal system since the middle ages. Hower the function of the lay judges have changed over time.
Letting persons without any form of legal knowledge take part in the court´s administration of justice means certain risks. The lack of knowledge might be replaced by a lay judge´s personal opinions. This might also have an effect on the evaluation of evidence and the evolution of new legal methods.
The involvment of citizens in our legal system is interesting to view from a rule of law perspective. The rule of law is something that the lay judges from different aspects either can maintain or damage. But what is the rule of law? The rule of law is a complex concept that contains many different elements and dimensions.
The motives for having the citizens represented in the courts by the lay judges today have a lot of similarities with the motives that were given 800 years ago when the concept of lay judges was founded. Our society and our legal system have developed a lot since then, which means that the motives for lay judges today might be based on how we viewed the society back in the middle ages. It is therefore possible that there are discrepancies between today´s motives and the actual function of the lay judges. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Att ha lekmän i domstolar är en tradition i svensk rätt som kan dateras till 800 år tillbaka i tiden. Att låta medborgare närvara i domstolar ansågs utgöra ett skydd mot att statsapparaten skulle missbruka rätten. Medborgarna som deltar i domstolens arbete kallas nämndemän, vilket är helt vanliga medborgare utan juridisk utbildning. Hur mycket inflytande nämndemännen haft över dömandet har varierat genom historien. Idag har nämndemännen individuell rösträtt, men är betydligt färre till antalet än ursprungligen. Det medborgerliga inflytandet är alltså ett rättskoncept som varit en del av vårt rättsväsende sedan medeltiden, vilken funktion det medborgerliga inflytandet fyller varierar dock genom historien.
Att vanliga medborgare utan... (More) - Att ha lekmän i domstolar är en tradition i svensk rätt som kan dateras till 800 år tillbaka i tiden. Att låta medborgare närvara i domstolar ansågs utgöra ett skydd mot att statsapparaten skulle missbruka rätten. Medborgarna som deltar i domstolens arbete kallas nämndemän, vilket är helt vanliga medborgare utan juridisk utbildning. Hur mycket inflytande nämndemännen haft över dömandet har varierat genom historien. Idag har nämndemännen individuell rösträtt, men är betydligt färre till antalet än ursprungligen. Det medborgerliga inflytandet är alltså ett rättskoncept som varit en del av vårt rättsväsende sedan medeltiden, vilken funktion det medborgerliga inflytandet fyller varierar dock genom historien.
Att vanliga medborgare utan juridiska kompetenser ska göra bedömningar utav avancerad juridisk karaktär medför dock vissa risker, eftersom kunskapsluckorna tenderar att fyllas ut med subjektiva åsikter. Bristande juridisk kunskap hos nämndemännen kan även påverka områden som bevisvärdering och metodutveckling.
Inte minst är det intressant att analysera nämndemannasystemet ur ett rättssäkerhetsperspektiv. Rättssäkerhet nämns som något nämndemännen antingen hämmar eller främjar, beroende på om man är positivt eller negativt inställd till nämndemannasystemet. Men vad är egentligen rättssäkerhet? Rättssäkerhet är ett komplext begrepp som innefattar flera element och olika dimensioner i rättssystemet.
Motiven för medborgerligt inflytande i våra domstolar idag delar många likheter med de historiska motiven trots att samhället, och inte minst rättsväsendet, har utvecklats mycket sedan nämnden ursprungligen inrättades. Detta ger sken av att motiven bygger på hur man såg på rättsväsendet för 800 år sedan, och att det därför idag kan finnas diskrepans mellan motiven och nämndemännens faktiska funktion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8976665
- author
- Svensson, Jesper LU
- supervisor
-
- Karol Nowak LU
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20191
- year
- 2019
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Processrätt, Nämndemannasystemet
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8976665
- date added to LUP
- 2019-09-16 11:00:10
- date last changed
- 2019-09-16 11:00:10
@misc{8976665,
abstract = {{To have lay judges present in our courts is an concept that dates back 800 years in our legal history. Having normal citizens in the court was regarded as a protection from the states potential misuse of power. The lay judges did not have any form of law education. How much influence the lay judges have had over the administration of justice has varied over the years. In today´s system they have the right to vote in decisions, but they are quite few compared to how many lay judges they used to be. During the middle ages they were 12 lay judges present, but today they are only 3. Giving the citizens influence in the courts is a concept we have had in our legal system since the middle ages. Hower the function of the lay judges have changed over time.
Letting persons without any form of legal knowledge take part in the court´s administration of justice means certain risks. The lack of knowledge might be replaced by a lay judge´s personal opinions. This might also have an effect on the evaluation of evidence and the evolution of new legal methods.
The involvment of citizens in our legal system is interesting to view from a rule of law perspective. The rule of law is something that the lay judges from different aspects either can maintain or damage. But what is the rule of law? The rule of law is a complex concept that contains many different elements and dimensions.
The motives for having the citizens represented in the courts by the lay judges today have a lot of similarities with the motives that were given 800 years ago when the concept of lay judges was founded. Our society and our legal system have developed a lot since then, which means that the motives for lay judges today might be based on how we viewed the society back in the middle ages. It is therefore possible that there are discrepancies between today´s motives and the actual function of the lay judges.}},
author = {{Svensson, Jesper}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Medborgerligt inflytande i domstolar - Ett verktyg för rättssäkerhetsgaranti, eller en överhängande risk för rättshaveri?}},
year = {{2019}},
}