The Nordic Constitutions

"This book analyses the Nordic constitutional systems of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in a comparative context. It has two main aims: first to fill a gap in the literature by providing an accessible English language account of the Nordic constitutions, and second to provide a comparative analysis of them, revealing their similarities and differences within their political, historical and cultural contexts. In this respect, the book challenges the assumption that the Nordic countries form a homogeneous constitutional system due to their cultural and historical affinities, a view not necessarily supported by a close comparative examination. A key issue is EU membership - where the Nordic countries have made different choices at different times - and the book will show how this has affected the individual countries and whether a divide between EU member states (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) and non-members (Iceland and Norway) has appeared. Another key issue is how the ECHR has impacted the Nordic constitutional systems and whether the convention draws the Nordic systems closer to each other. The book represents a first of its kind in the English language, and will provide constitutional scholars with a valuable comparative resource on the Nordic region."--

Nordic law is often referred to as something different from other legal systems. At the same time, it is a common belief that the Nordic countries share more or less the same legal tradition and are very similar in their approach to the law. Considering both of these points of view, the book tells a story of how Nordic law and Nordic legal thinking differ from other legal systems, and how there are many particularities in the law of each of the Nordic countries, making them different from each other. The idea of “Nordic” law also conceals national features. The basic premise of the book is that even if, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a Nordic common law, it still makes sense to speak of “Nordic” law, and that acquiring a more-than-basic knowledge of this law is interesting not only for comparative lawyers, but also helpful for those working with Nordic lawyers and dealing with questions involving law in the Nordic countries.

This book analyses the Nordic constitutional systems of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in a comparative context. It has two main aims: first to fill a gap in the literature by providing an accessible English language account of the Nordic constitutions, and second to provide a comparative analysis of them, revealing their similarities and differences within their political, historical and cultural contexts. In this respect, the book challenges the assumption that the Nordic countries form a homogeneous constitutional system due to their cultural and historical affinities, a view not necessarily supported by a close comparative examination. A key issue is EU membership –where the Nordic countries have made different choices at different times – and the book will show how this has affected the individual countries and whether a divide between EU member states (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) and non-members (Iceland and Norway) has appeared. Another key issue is how the ECHR has impacted the Nordic constitutional systems and whether the convention draws the Nordic systems closer to each other. The book represents a first of its kind in the English language, and will provide constitutional scholars with a valuable comparative resource on the Nordic region.

The book presents a comparative study of children’s constitutional rights in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The authors discuss the value of enshrining children’s rights in national constitutions in addition to implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Central issues are whether enshrining children’s rights in the Constitution improves implementation and enforcement of those rights by providing advocacy tools and by mandating courts, legislators, policy-makers and practitioners to take children’s rights seriously. The study assesses whether the Nordic constitutions are in line with the child rights approach of the CRC both on a general level and in detail in three domains; the best interests of the child, participation rights, and the right to respect for family life.

The book is a comparative study in the status of international human rights norms in the domestic law of all the Nordic countries and the three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. An amazingly rapid development towards direct applicability of international human rights treaties has taken place in recent years in all the countries in question. This book provides in-depth analysis of the situation in the eight countries. Each country-specific chapter is followed by a document section. Depending on the country in question the documents include constitutional texts, incorporation enactments of human rights, treaties, court rulings etc. The English translations of the Constitutions of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are given in full. The book includes a Foreword by Dr. Ole Espersen, the Council of the Baltic Sea States Commissioner on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, including the Rights of Persons belonging to Minorities.

This book has its roots in a conference on recent developments in Nordic and German constitutional law that took place in Berlin in 2002 at the Nordic Cultural Centre.That conference was organised within the project "Konstitutionalism, demokrati och den nordiska valfardsstaten" (Constitutionalism, Democracy and the Nordic Welfare State), financed by the Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (NOS-HS). The volume contains the edited and updated papers which emerged from this meeting of minds. They offer insight into some of the new, exciting strands of constitutional thought that are currently present in the Nordic doctrine, where many new paths have been opened in recent years. The contrast with the situation two decades ago is indeed striking. As far as German and European law are concerned, some of the most important theoretical issues in the doctrine are analysed in a number of particularly rewarding and inspiring contributions.

This study explores whether and how enshrining children's rights in national constitutions improves implementation and enforcement of those rights by comparing Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish law.