Minority Rights, to be recognised by the Legislator or the Supreme Court? - Did the Swedish Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) adopt an activist or restrained position, concerning the right to property of the Sami people, in the Taxed Mountain Case (Skattefjällsmålet) and what were the effects of the chosen approach?
(2018) JURM02 20182Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- In the 1970s a group of Sami people sued the Swedish State claiming a better right to a geographic area referred to as the Taxed Mountain (Skattefjällen). The Sami people are recognised as an indigenous people, and a minority group, by the Swedish State. The Taxed Mountain Case (Skattefjällsmålet), that reached the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) in the year of 1981, resulted in a precedent that has since heavily influenced most cases concerning the rights of the Sami people.
The objective of this thesis is to analyse the reasoning of the Supreme Court in the Taxed Mountain Case with the assistance of Ronald Dworkins theory on minority rights. The basis of the theory presented by Ronald Dworkin is that a majority is unwilling to... (More) - In the 1970s a group of Sami people sued the Swedish State claiming a better right to a geographic area referred to as the Taxed Mountain (Skattefjällen). The Sami people are recognised as an indigenous people, and a minority group, by the Swedish State. The Taxed Mountain Case (Skattefjällsmålet), that reached the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) in the year of 1981, resulted in a precedent that has since heavily influenced most cases concerning the rights of the Sami people.
The objective of this thesis is to analyse the reasoning of the Supreme Court in the Taxed Mountain Case with the assistance of Ronald Dworkins theory on minority rights. The basis of the theory presented by Ronald Dworkin is that a majority is unwilling to accommodate the rights of a minority group any further than to ensure peace and order. Dworkin therefore advocates an activist Supreme Court stepping in, when the majority fails to do so, to ensure the constitutional rights of minority groups.
To be able to understand the analysis of the Taxed Mountain Case much effort has been put into presenting both the theory of Ronald Dworkin but also the Swedish constitutional system and tradition. The constitutional document relevant for this thesis is the Instrument of Government (Regeringsformen). Other material used consists mostly of legal doctrine, published papers by legal scholars, legislative history (förarbeten) and to some extent newspaper articles.
The conclusion of this thesis is that the Supreme Court adopted a strongly restrained position in relation to the legislator, as defined by Dworkin, when determining the Taxed Mountain Case. The effects of such an approach, In accordance with the ideas of Dworkin, is that the Supreme Court established that if a right does not prevail from the political or legislative process, with the assistance of political institutions, it is an improper claim of a right. Concerning the rights of the Sami people this results in them completely having to rely on the good will of the political majority to ensure their rights. This thesis shows that the political majority has so far, through out history, not shown interest in assuring the rights of the Sami people. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- På 1970-talet stämde en grupp samer den svenska staten då de ansåg sig ha bättre rätt till ett geografiskt område kallat Skattefjällen. Samer är av svenska staten erkända som ett ursprungsfolk, och som en minoritetsgrupp. Skattefjällsmålet togs upp av Högsta domstolen 1981 och resulterade i ett prejudikat som sedan dess haft stort inflytande på de flesta mål som berört samers rättigheter.
Syftet med denna uppsats är att, med hjälp av Ronald Dworkins teori om minoriteters rättigheter, analysera Högsta domstolens domskäl i Skattefjällsmålet. Grunden för Ronald Dworkins teori är att en majoritetsgrupp inte är villig att säkerställa att en minoritetsgrupps rättigheter tas tillvara i större utsträckning än att se till att ordning... (More) - På 1970-talet stämde en grupp samer den svenska staten då de ansåg sig ha bättre rätt till ett geografiskt område kallat Skattefjällen. Samer är av svenska staten erkända som ett ursprungsfolk, och som en minoritetsgrupp. Skattefjällsmålet togs upp av Högsta domstolen 1981 och resulterade i ett prejudikat som sedan dess haft stort inflytande på de flesta mål som berört samers rättigheter.
Syftet med denna uppsats är att, med hjälp av Ronald Dworkins teori om minoriteters rättigheter, analysera Högsta domstolens domskäl i Skattefjällsmålet. Grunden för Ronald Dworkins teori är att en majoritetsgrupp inte är villig att säkerställa att en minoritetsgrupps rättigheter tas tillvara i större utsträckning än att se till att ordning upprätthålls. Dworkin argumenterar därför för att en Högsta domstol ska, genom att vara aktivistisk, försäkra att minoritetsgruppers konstitutionella rättigheter upprätthålls även när den politiska majoriteten inte anser detta vara av intresse.
För att förstå analysen av Skattefjällsmålet så har mycket tid lagts på att både presentera Ronald Dworkins teori, men också Sveriges konstitutionella system och tradition. Den relevanta grundlagsförfattningen för denna uppsats är Regeringsformen. Annat material som använts i uppsatsen utgörs framförallt av juridisk doktrin, rättsvetenskapliga artiklar, förarbeten och i viss utsträckning tidningsartiklar.
Slutsatsen som dras i denna uppsats är att Högsta Domstolen valde en starkt återhållsam inställning i relation till lagstiftaren, så som definierat av Dworkin, när de dömde i Skattefjällsmålet. Effekten av en sådan inställning, enligt Dworkin, är att Högsta Domstolen signalerar att en rättighet bara existerar om den har uppkommit genom en politisk process som resulterar i lagstiftning och erkänns av politiska institutioner. Gällande samers rättigheter så betyder det att samer måste lita på att den politiska majoriteten vill tillgodose deras rättigheter. Denna uppsats visar på att den politiska majoriteten historisk inte har visat något intresse av att försäkra att samers rättigheter tillvaratas. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8964543
- author
- Nilsson, Karin LU
- supervisor
-
- Per Nilsén LU
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20182
- year
- 2018
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- jurisprudence, allmän rättslära, private law, civil rätt, legal philosophy, rättsfilosofi, legal history, rättshistoria, sami law, samerätt, Dworkin, skattefjällsmålet, the taxed mountain case
- language
- English
- id
- 8964543
- date added to LUP
- 2019-01-28 12:44:45
- date last changed
- 2019-01-28 12:44:45
@misc{8964543,
abstract = {{In the 1970s a group of Sami people sued the Swedish State claiming a better right to a geographic area referred to as the Taxed Mountain (Skattefjällen). The Sami people are recognised as an indigenous people, and a minority group, by the Swedish State. The Taxed Mountain Case (Skattefjällsmålet), that reached the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) in the year of 1981, resulted in a precedent that has since heavily influenced most cases concerning the rights of the Sami people.
The objective of this thesis is to analyse the reasoning of the Supreme Court in the Taxed Mountain Case with the assistance of Ronald Dworkins theory on minority rights. The basis of the theory presented by Ronald Dworkin is that a majority is unwilling to accommodate the rights of a minority group any further than to ensure peace and order. Dworkin therefore advocates an activist Supreme Court stepping in, when the majority fails to do so, to ensure the constitutional rights of minority groups.
To be able to understand the analysis of the Taxed Mountain Case much effort has been put into presenting both the theory of Ronald Dworkin but also the Swedish constitutional system and tradition. The constitutional document relevant for this thesis is the Instrument of Government (Regeringsformen). Other material used consists mostly of legal doctrine, published papers by legal scholars, legislative history (förarbeten) and to some extent newspaper articles.
The conclusion of this thesis is that the Supreme Court adopted a strongly restrained position in relation to the legislator, as defined by Dworkin, when determining the Taxed Mountain Case. The effects of such an approach, In accordance with the ideas of Dworkin, is that the Supreme Court established that if a right does not prevail from the political or legislative process, with the assistance of political institutions, it is an improper claim of a right. Concerning the rights of the Sami people this results in them completely having to rely on the good will of the political majority to ensure their rights. This thesis shows that the political majority has so far, through out history, not shown interest in assuring the rights of the Sami people.}},
author = {{Nilsson, Karin}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Minority Rights, to be recognised by the Legislator or the Supreme Court? - Did the Swedish Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) adopt an activist or restrained position, concerning the right to property of the Sami people, in the Taxed Mountain Case (Skattefjällsmålet) and what were the effects of the chosen approach?}},
year = {{2018}},
}