Rethinking Nordic Courts

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. Rethinking Nordic Courts: An Introduction

   • Anna Nylund

   Pages 1-17Open Access

3. The Historical and Legal Cultural Underpinnings of Nordic Courts

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

      PDF

   2. Courts and Proceedings: Some Nordic Characteristics

      • Pia Letto-Vanamo

      Pages 21-36Open Access

   3. Courts, Law, Language and Culture

      • Ditlev Tamm

      Pages 37-47Open Access

   4. The History of Nordic Legal Culture and Court Culture: The Story of What Should not Have Been, but Still Came to Be

      • Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde

      Pages 49-67Open Access

   5. Sources of Inspiration of Nordic Procedural Law: Choices and Objectives of the Legal Reforms

      • Maria Astrup Hjort

      Pages 69-88Open Access

   6. Culture and Mentality in East-Nordic Courts

      • Laura Ervo

      Pages 89-106Open Access

4. Europeanisation, Globalisation and Nordic Courts

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 107-107

      PDF

   2. Europeanisation of Nordic Civil Procedure: Does the Map Match the Terrain?

      • Anna Nylund

      Pages 109-131Open Access

   3. Nordic and European Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters

      • Dan Helenius

      Pages 133-149Open Access

   4. Globalisation and Court Practice in Iceland: New Case Law of the Supreme Court in Relation to the EEA Agreement and European Convention on Human Rights

      • Halldóra Thorsteinsdóttir

      Pages 151-165Open Access

   5. The Changing Role of Nordic Courts

      • Martin Sunnqvist

      Pages 167-183Open Access

5. Privatisation and Flexibilisation of Nordic Court Proceedings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 185-185

      PDF

   2. Institutional Aspects of the Nordic Justice Systems: Striving for Consolidation and Settlements

      • Anna Nylund

      Pages 187-211Open Access

   3. The Public Policy-Implementing Role of Nordic Courts in Civil Dispute Resolution

      • Clement Salung Petersen

      Pages 213-233Open Access

   4. Mediation: A Change in Finnish Court Culture?

      • Kirsikka Linnanmäki

      Pages 235-254Open Access

   5. Plea Bargaining Changing Nordic Criminal Procedure: Sweden and Finland as Examples

      • Laura Ervo

      Pages 255-269Open Access

   6. Small Claims Procedures in the Scandinavian Countries

      • Christina Jensen

      Pages 271-287Open Access

6. Conclusions on Nordic Courts and Court Proceedings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 289-289

      PDF

This open access book examines whether a distinctly Nordic procedural or court culture exists and what the hallmarks of that culture are. Do Nordic courts and court proceedings share a distinct set of ideas and values that in combination constitute the core of a regional legal culture? How do Europeanisation, privatisation, diversification and digitisation influence courts and court proceedings in the Nordic countries? The book traces the genesis and formation of Nordic courts and justice systems to provide a richer comprehension of contemporary Nordic legal culture, and an understanding of the relationship between legal cultural stability and change. In answering these questions, the book provides models for conceptualising procedural culture.

Nordic procedural culture has partly developed organically and is partly also the product of deliberate efforts to maintain a certain level of alignment between the Nordic countries. Studying Nordic cooperation enables us to gain a deeper understanding of current regional, European and global harmonisation processes within procedural law.

The influx of supranational European law, increased use of alternative dispute resolution and growth in regulation density that produces a conflict between specialisation and coherence, have tangible impact on the role of courts in a democratic society, the form of court proceedings and court structures. This book examines whether and why some trends exert more tangible, or perhaps simply more perceptible, influence on procedural culture than others.

• Open Access
• Comparative Law
• Court Proceedings
• Court Culture
• Litigation Culture
• Nordic Countries
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Globalization of Law
• Europeanization of Law
• Privatization of Dispute Resolution
• Procedural Law

• School of Law, Psychology and Social Work, University of Örebro, Örebro, Sweden

  Laura Ervo

• Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  Pia Letto-Vanamo

• Faculty of Law, University of Tromsø–The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

  Anna Nylund

Laura Ervo has been a Professor at Örebro University since 2010. Her experience spans 30 years of working at various universities throughout the Nordic countries.  She is also an Adjunct Professor of Procedural Law at the Universities of Turku, Helsinki, and Eastern Finland. Her research output includes some 170 publications, many of them addressing human rights within the field of procedural law. In 2011, she was awarded the title Excellent Teacher by Örebro University. 
  
Pia Letto-Vanamo is a Professor at the University of Helsinki. A legal historian and comparative lawyer specializing in European and Nordic legal history, Nordic legal culture(s) and transnational law, she is currently serving as Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki. She has published several books and articles on European and Nordic legal history, the history of legal integration, on legal cultures around the world, and on questions concerning access to justice and the ADR.  
  
Anna Nylund is a Professor of Law at the University of Tromsø. Her main research interests are in comparative and European aspects of civil procedure law, alternative dispute resolution, and child law. She has co-directed several research projects on e.g. EU and national civil procedure and Scandinavian mediation. She presents regularly at international conferences and is a member of several international scholarly associations.