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Lekmän i de svenska och danska domstolsväsendena – en komparativ & historisk analys

Redelius, Erika LU (2020) LAGF03 20201
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Lay judges in courts is an old phenomenon in both Sweden and Denmark. A layman is someone who judges court cases in coalition with ordinary judges. The significance of lay judges has both increased and decreased over time and varies depending on the time period and type of lay judge of relevance in the discussion. This essay examines lay judges in a historical and current perspective and explains how the various systems function. Attention is also paid to what has been argued, both positively and negatively, regarding the different systems and what problems have emerged.

In Sweden the lay judges exist as nämndemän and jury respectively. The laymen are appointed by political parties, which has caused debates concerning impartiality and... (More)
Lay judges in courts is an old phenomenon in both Sweden and Denmark. A layman is someone who judges court cases in coalition with ordinary judges. The significance of lay judges has both increased and decreased over time and varies depending on the time period and type of lay judge of relevance in the discussion. This essay examines lay judges in a historical and current perspective and explains how the various systems function. Attention is also paid to what has been argued, both positively and negatively, regarding the different systems and what problems have emerged.

In Sweden the lay judges exist as nämndemän and jury respectively. The laymen are appointed by political parties, which has caused debates concerning impartiality and legal security. Nämndemän partake in numerous case types in Sweden, while the jury is limited to cases regarding freedom of press and speech. As a consequence, nämndemän have been subject to criticism more extensively compared to the jury.

In Denmark lay judges are either nævninger, corresponding to the Swedish jury, or domsmænd, corresponding to the Swedish nämndemän. Previously, nævninger have been defined as something different to and more independent than domsmænd, but with time the differences have dwindled. Many of the laymen are politically involved in Denmark as well, but unlike Sweden there is an opportunity to register one’s interest in becoming a lay judge, disregarding political involvement.

Many of the arguments for lay judges are politically founded rather than judicially. This can be questioned due to the fact that lay judges generally do not have as strong of a connection to the public as justifications often express. Laymen have different qualifications compared to ordinary judges, which raises the question whether that is desirable in the court system or not. Despite all the discussions being held, opinions have not affected the development of the lay judge system as of late, neither in Sweden nor Denmark. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Lekmannamedverkan i domstol är ett gammalt fenomen i både Sverige och Danmark. En lekman är en person som sitter med och dömer i domstolarna jämte juristdomarna. Inflytandet hos dessa har både ökat och minskat över tid och varierar även beroende på vilken typ av lekmannadomare man talar om. Denna uppsats undersöker lekdomare i ett historiskt och nutida perspektiv och förklarar hur de olika systemen fungerar. Utöver detta ägnas uppmärksamhet åt vad som anförts som positivt och negativt med de olika systemen och vilka problem som uppkommit.

I Sverige består lekmannadomare av nämndemän respektive jury. Lekmännen utses av politiska partier, vilket gett upphov till debatter om opartiskhet och rättssäkerhet. Nämndemännen sitter med i... (More)
Lekmannamedverkan i domstol är ett gammalt fenomen i både Sverige och Danmark. En lekman är en person som sitter med och dömer i domstolarna jämte juristdomarna. Inflytandet hos dessa har både ökat och minskat över tid och varierar även beroende på vilken typ av lekmannadomare man talar om. Denna uppsats undersöker lekdomare i ett historiskt och nutida perspektiv och förklarar hur de olika systemen fungerar. Utöver detta ägnas uppmärksamhet åt vad som anförts som positivt och negativt med de olika systemen och vilka problem som uppkommit.

I Sverige består lekmannadomare av nämndemän respektive jury. Lekmännen utses av politiska partier, vilket gett upphov till debatter om opartiskhet och rättssäkerhet. Nämndemännen sitter med i flertalet mål i Sverige, medan juryns medverkan är begränsad till tryck- och yttrandefrihetsmål. Som konsekvens har nämndemännen blivit föremål för kritik i mer omfattande mening än juryn.

I Danmark tar lekmännen form av nævninger, motsvarande jury, eller domsmænd, ungefär motsvarande de svenska nämndemännen. Tidigare har nævninger varit definierat som något annorlunda och mer självständigt än domsmænd, men över tiden har skillnaderna minskat. Många av lekmannadomarna är politiskt engagerade även i Danmark, men till skillnad från i Sverige finns en möjlighet att anmäla sitt intresse till att bli lekdomare oavsett politisk involvering.

Många av argumenten som förts för lekmannamedverkan är politiskt grundade snarare än juridiskt. Dessa kan ifrågasättas utifrån det faktum att lekdomare generellt sett inte har så stark koppling till allmänheten som äldre motiveringar vill framföra det som. Lekdomare har en annorlunda kompetens från ordinarie juristdomare, vilket väcker debatten om det är önskvärt i domstolsväsendet. Trots alla diskussioner som förts på senare tid har åsikter inte vägt in i stort på hur lekmannasystemen utvecklats, varken i Sverige eller i Danmark. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Redelius, Erika LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20201
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
komparativ rätt, komparativ law, rättshistoria, legal history, processrätt, criminal procedure, lekmän
language
Swedish
id
9010524
date added to LUP
2020-09-17 13:39:43
date last changed
2020-09-17 13:39:43
@misc{9010524,
  abstract     = {{Lay judges in courts is an old phenomenon in both Sweden and Denmark. A layman is someone who judges court cases in coalition with ordinary judges. The significance of lay judges has both increased and decreased over time and varies depending on the time period and type of lay judge of relevance in the discussion. This essay examines lay judges in a historical and current perspective and explains how the various systems function. Attention is also paid to what has been argued, both positively and negatively, regarding the different systems and what problems have emerged.

In Sweden the lay judges exist as nämndemän and jury respectively. The laymen are appointed by political parties, which has caused debates concerning impartiality and legal security. Nämndemän partake in numerous case types in Sweden, while the jury is limited to cases regarding freedom of press and speech. As a consequence, nämndemän have been subject to criticism more extensively compared to the jury.

In Denmark lay judges are either nævninger, corresponding to the Swedish jury, or domsmænd, corresponding to the Swedish nämndemän. Previously, nævninger have been defined as something different to and more independent than domsmænd, but with time the differences have dwindled. Many of the laymen are politically involved in Denmark as well, but unlike Sweden there is an opportunity to register one’s interest in becoming a lay judge, disregarding political involvement.

Many of the arguments for lay judges are politically founded rather than judicially. This can be questioned due to the fact that lay judges generally do not have as strong of a connection to the public as justifications often express. Laymen have different qualifications compared to ordinary judges, which raises the question whether that is desirable in the court system or not. Despite all the discussions being held, opinions have not affected the development of the lay judge system as of late, neither in Sweden nor Denmark.}},
  author       = {{Redelius, Erika}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Lekmän i de svenska och danska domstolsväsendena – en komparativ & historisk analys}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}