The ambition is to give an overview of the current situation, especially as it has manifested itself in the Scandinavian countries. More precisely the volume originates from a seminar on freedom of expression and its limits, held at the Stockholm University Law Faculty in February 2008. The freedom of expression seminar had in turn been instigated by several events which at that time attracted much attention in the media and public debate. One such event was the publication of Prophet Muhammad cartoons in a Danish newspaper in 2005.   Parallel with discussions on the possible limits to certain freedoms, an urge for the recognition of new rights has emerged strongly in various international forums. The right to drinking water is an example of the latter. Some of these new rights have already received a degree of recognition, whilst others still need further elaboration.   The articles in this volume address both the limitations to already established rights and the proliferation of new rights. An overall impression of the conclusions of the studies is that both the proliferation and the limitation of individual rights and freedoms have positive and negative aspects. The increase in the number of rights can hardly jeopardize individual freedoms, but it can lead to the “inflation” of rights and the subsequent watering-down of the implementation of existing rights. Limitation to rights and freedoms may for different reasons be justified under certain circumstances. There is, however, a risk of serious violation of the rights if limitation is destined to lead to the imposition of an authoritarian political system.

390 p.

Criminal law is a core element of the legal system. The topic also attracts much interest from politicians and the public in general. Spectacular crimes, sentencing and the rationality of the criminal system are intensely observed and extensively discussed in the media. Undoubtedly criminal law sometimes also functions as a survival tool for politicians, as demands for more harsh treatments and harder punishments always tend to (or at least tend to be expected to) attract large groups of voters. Criminal law is as well a theoretical field of law, in the sense that many of its issues cannot be discussed and “solved” without use of knowledge from other disciplines, such as philosophy, psychology and sociology. The “general part” of criminal law – the idea of which is prominent in the Scandinavian countries – must, when handling issues such as causality, action and intent, stay open to such influences. Consequently, criminal law is a multifaceted and important field of study undergoing constant change. Against this background the editors of Sc.St.L. are pleased to present a collection with a large number of contributions on several aspects of criminal law currently being debated on the international scene.

462 p.

Sociology of law is a branch of legal science which provides an external perspective on law and the legal system. The approach has both scientific and practical consequences for the study of law. The external perspective leads the scholar to raise other than dogmatic questions about the proper application of law in different situations. Noticeable is also that there is a distinction between sociology of law and socio-legal studies or legal sociology. In the socio-legal perspective the sociological part seeks merely to contribute to an understanding of law on its own terms. Legal sociology has thus been labelled an auxiliary science to legal science. Sociology of law, on the other hand, claims to be an academic subject in its own right.

446 p.

The publication of this volume is well timed. In the European sphere constitutional law is currently much debated, especially as a consequence of the European Union (EU) integration project and its accompanying demands for constitutional revisions and adoption of super governmental principles. The impact of the project is much discussed and the opinions vary. The process also has initiated referendums in several countries, and the recent failure to ratify the new Constitutional Treaty has prompted a renewed debate on the legitimacy of European integration. Simultaneously a number of events in which several constitutional principles appear to clash with religious and ethical concerns have been given much attention in the media. Several recent incidents have also stirred up debates concerning the limits of constitutional principles and the need for revisions. The Danish publication of Muhammad caricatures, frequent clashes between principles concerning freedom of the press versus privacy, minority rights, and the protection of religious freedom are just a few examples of this. In the first part of this 52nd volume of Scandinavian Studies of Law (Sc.St.L.) 17 articles on constitutional law are presented. The second part is a documentation of the second annual conference of the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) Why Europe? Possibilities and limits of European integration which was held in Stockholm 16 November 2006. The purpose of the conference was to provide scholarly perspectives on the sources of legitimacy, the democratic credentials and the constitutional alternatives for the EU. The contributions in this section are further elaborations of the speeches delivered at the conference. In addition, in order to provide a background to the discussions, this volume presents English versions of the Constitutions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden

500 p.

This 51:st volume of the Scandinavian Studies in Law presents 26 articles on Scandinavian Procedural Law. The articles have all been written by academic jurists, highly prominent judges and officials active in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. At least two features make the recent development of procedural law in the Scandinavian counties interesting from a broad international perspective. The Scandinavian legal systems exhibit a unique mix of civil and common law traditions, and the judiciaries have in the last decade been profoundly affected by the European Union integration project. In several cases this has resulted in innovative solutions but also given rise to intense debates. In addition to the various articles on procedural law this volume contains presentations of the courts administration bodies in all the Scandinavian countries

650 p.

The second part addresses a range of issues related to the regulation of fundamental conditions of community life under the label of Social Private Law. This includes components associated with among other things what is known as the welfare state, a conception often attributed to the Scandinavian countries.

As a whole the collection provides a broad and multi-dimensional description of Scandinavian law today. Contributors are both outside observers and “internal” writers, and the volume should be an indispensable source for anyone interested in learning more about current Scandinavian legal culture. The majority of the articles that are included were originally presented at two workshops held in 2007.

The establishment of the series Scandinavian Studies in Law was an important initiative to manifest the fiftieth anniversary of the Stockholm Law Faculty in 1957. Consequently, the fiftieth anniversary of Scandinavian Studies in Law in 2007 coincides with the Centennial Jubilee of the Faculty.

554 p.

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Legal work is somewhat atypical in the foregoing respect. Compared with many other activities, there are few descriptions of how the various segments of a legal task are to be devised in order to achieve the greatest possible certainty of result. Lawyers tend to work reactively, i.e., the focus is on solving problems that have already arisen. Efforts aimed at avoiding problems before they begin to brew – i.e., proactively – are less common. The proactive approach is not unknown in the legal sphere but as compared to many other fields of the law the perspective is not very well elaborated. Against this background this volume of Scandinavian Studies in Law presents 25 articles on various aspects of proactive approaches in law, the majority of them focusing on contracting issues. The collection is simultaneously a documentation of a conference on proactive law held in Stockholm 2005. In addition to the articles on proactive law this volume contains a presentation of major law libraries in the Scandinavian countries.

462 p.
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In the Scandinavian legal education, jurisprudence is a compulsory subject for most legal degrees. In the academic curricula, the discipline is referred to as the “General Theory of Law” (in Swedish, allmän rättslära). Not surprisingly, its content and objectives are often discussed. The argumentation at times has been intense, as advocates for the various theories articulate different opinions as to the true nature of law, along with accompanying convictions concerning what are, can and should be considered acceptable legal methods. In the international debate, however, the terminological distinction between jurisprudence and legal dogmatics is not always maintained. The word “jurisprudence” is sometimes apparently also used in a broader context as a synonym for “law”, covering studies of both kinds. Jurisprudence thus also corresponds to legal science (in Swedish, rättsvetenskap). It is in this sense that the title of this book should be understood. This 48th volume of the Scandinavian Studies in Law (Sc.St.L.) has been dedicated to honour Professor Jes Bjarup on the occasion of his retirement from the chair in Jurisprudence at the Stockholm University Law Faculty in January 2005.

622 p.
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The Scandinavian countries have long been in the forefront when it comes to the use of IT, mobile telephones and the Internet. The awareness of technical potentialities is reflected in a longstanding jurisprudential interest in the field. The Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute traces its origin back to 1968, the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law held its first seminar in 1970, and, not surprisingly, the activities in this field are presently more intense than ever. Following this tradition, this volume of Scandinavian Studies in Law presents 27 newly written articles on current legal issues relating to IT. The contributors are all scholars and practitioners active in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

621 p.

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