Abstract
The Nordic courts and court culture have several distinctive traits: (1) a three-tier court hierarchy with little specialisation; (2) judicial discretion and pragmatism; (3) “Nordic” oral proceedings; (4) lay participation; and (5) the role of Supreme Courts and the doctrine of quasi-stare decisis. Many of the traits are not uniquely Nordic, yet their combination and small distinctions compared to other legal systems do set them apart. There are also considerable differences between the Nordic countries. The main divides follow the historical division between the historical Swedish, eastern, kingdom, which included Finland; and the historical Danish-Norwegian kingdom, which also included Iceland.
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Notes
- 1.
Administration of Justice Act, Retsplejelov 2016 no 1257.
- 2.
Code of Judicial Procedure, Oikeudenkäymiskaari/Rättegångsbalk 4/1734. Despite its name, the act is not technically a code.
- 3.
Code of Judicial Procedure, Rättegångsbalken 1942:740. Despite its name, the act is not technically a code.
- 4.
Laki oikeudenkäynnistä rikosasioissa/Lag om rättegång i brottmål 689/1997.
- 5.
Lov om mekling og rettergang i sivile tvister 2005 no. 90.
- 6.
Lov om rettergangsmåte i straffesaker 1981 no. 25.
- 7.
Lov om domstolene 1915 no 5.
- 8.
Wenander (2016).
- 9.
A brief overview at http://www.domstol.se/Om-Sveriges-Domstolar/Domstolar-i-Europa/Domstolar-i-Norden/.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
Only courts with approximately 15–20 judges or more are organised in sections, such as the district courts in the capitals and the largest urban areas.
- 13.
European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (2016), pp. 83–86.
- 14.
Byret in Denmark, käräjäoikeus/tingsrätt in Finland, héraðsdómstól in Iceland, tingrett in Norway and tingsrätt in Sweden.
- 15.
Landsret in Denmark, hovioikeus/hovrätt in Finland, landsréttur in Iceland, lagmannsrett in Norway and hovrätt in Sweden. The Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal is kammarrätt.
- 16.
Højesteret in Denmark, Korkein oikeus/Högsta domstolen in Finland, Hæstiréttur in Iceland, Høyesterett in Norway and Högsta domstolen in Sweden.
- 17.
In Finland, the administrative courts consist of hallinto-oikeus/förvaltningsdomstol and Korkein hallinto-oikeus/Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen. In Sweden, the administrative courts consist of förvaltningsrätt, kammarrätt and Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen.
- 18.
Mäenpää et al. (2015).
- 19.
Arnstad (2017), p. 6. See also Jackson et al. (2011); Spignoli (2016) and the EU 2017 Justice Scoreboard. http://ec.europa.eu/justice/effective-justice/scoreboard/index_en.htm.
- 20.
Ervo and Nylund (2016).
- 21.
- 22.
European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (2016), pp. 186–190.
- 23.
See Ervo and Nylund (2016), note 25.
- 24.
The Swedish Act on Administrative Proceedings, Förvaltningsprocesslagen 1971:291, section 9, and the Finnish Administrative Judicial Procedure Act, Hallintolainkäyttölaki/ Förvaltningsprocesslag 586/1996 section 37.
- 25.
European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (2016), p. 90.
- 26.
European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (2016), p. 90.
- 27.
- 28.
Statistics from the Supreme Administrative Court http://kho.fi/material/attachments/kho/aineistoa/tilastoja/cfq6ZrylD/Valituslupa-asiat_2016.pdf.
- 29.
Domstolsverket (2016).
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Nylund, A., Sunde, J.Ø. (2019). Courts and Court Proceedings. In: Letto-Vanamo, P., Tamm, D., Gram Mortensen, B.O. (eds) Nordic Law in European Context. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 73. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03006-3_12
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