The Distinctive Features of Scandinavian Law and The Problem of Locating It among the Legal Families of the World

Abstract

This paper is divided into two parts. The first part of the study attempts to determine and explain the distinctive features of Scandinavian law. Scandinavian law, in the broad sense of the term, covers the laws of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. In this respect, the historical developments of the laws of these countries, legal sources, judge-made law, interpretation, legal reasoning, pragmatism and realism which mark Scandinavian laws as their peculiar features as well as legal education, legal career and judiciary are taken account of. The second part of the study is an attempt to locate Scandinavian law among the classifications of legal systems of the world. Based on the significant features determined in the first part of the study, the second part attempts to demonstrate the distinct position of Scandinavian law which renders it impossible to be subsumed under common law or civil law families. Against this background, the merits of legal families theories will be questioned and the question whether the classical legal families approach is sufficiently overarching to accommodate atypical legal systems such as Scandinavian law will be raised. Within the scope of this query, recent proposals to classify legal systems - most of which reject the ‘law as rules’ approach - will be examined and evaluated in terms of their appropriateness to cover such atypical systems.

Keywords

• Scandinavian law,Legal families,Civil law,Common law,Comparative law

Iskandinav Hukukunun Belirleyici Özellikleri ve Dünya Hukuk Çevreleri Içine Yerleştirilmesi Sorunu

Abstract

Bu çalışma iki bölümden oluşmaktadır. İlk bölümde İskandinav hukukunun belirleyici özelliklerinin belirlenmesi ve açıklanmasına çalışılacaktır. Geniş anlamda İskandinav hukuku, İsveç, Norveç, Danimarka, İzlanda ve Finlandiya hukuklarını kapsamaktadır. Bu bağlamda bu hukuk düzenlerinin tarihsel gelişimleri, hukuk kaynakları, yargıç hukuku, yorum, hukuki düşünce biçimi, İskandinav hukukuna rengini veren pragmatizm ve realizm, hukuk eğitimi, hukukçuluk mesleği ve yargı teşkilatı göz önüne alınacaktır. Çalışmanın ikinci bölümü İskandinav hukukunu, dünya hukuk sistemlerinin sınıflandırmaları arasına yerleştirmeye yönelik bir girişimdir. Birinci bölümde tespit edilen ayırt edici özelliklere dayanılarak, İskandinav hukukunun Kıta Avrupası veya common law hukuk çevreleri altında ele alınmasını imkânsız hale getiren ayrıksı konumu gösterilmeye çalışılacaktır. Bu doğrultuda, hukuk çevreleri teorilerinin uygunluğu sorgulanacak ve klasik hukuk çevreleri ayrımlarının, İskandinav hukuku gibi atipik hukuk sistemlerini içerecek kadar kapsayıcı olup olmadığı sorusu yöneltilecektir. Bu sorgulama çerçevesinde, hukuk düzenlerinin sınıflandırılmasına yönelik, çoğu ‘kurallar bütünü olarak hukuk’ yaklaşımını reddeden yakın tarihli öneriler de, atipik düzenleri kapsamaya uygun oluşları bakımından incelenip değerlendirilecektir

Keywords

• İskandinav hukuku,Hukuk çevreleri,Kıta avrupası hukuku,Common law,Karşılaştırmalı hukuk

Supporting Institution

Yazar bu çalışma için finansal destek almadığını beyan etmiştir.

References

1. Akı İ, ‘Amerikan Hukuki Realizmi Çerçevesinde Hukuki Belirsizlik’ (Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara Üniversitesi 2008)
2. Andersson H, ‘The Tort Law Culture(s) of Scandinavia’ (2012) 3 JETL 210
3. Bärlund J and Moegelvang-Hansen P, ‘Contracting with a Social Dimension’ in Pia Letto-Vanamo and Ditlev Tamm and Bent Ole Gram Mortensen (eds), Nordic Law in European Context (Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019)
4. Bernitz U, ‘What is Scandinavian Law? Concept, Characteristics, Future’ (2007) 50 Scandinavian Studies in Law 14
5. Bjarup J, ‘The Philosophy of Scandinavian Legal Realism’ (2005) 18(1) Ratio Juris 1
6. David R and John E.C. Brierley J E C, Major Legal Systems in the World (3rd edn Stevens & Sons 1985)
7. De Cruz P, Comparative Law In A Changing World (2nd edn, Cavendish Publishing Limited 1999)
8. Friedman L M, ‘Legal Culture and Social Development’ (1969) 4(1) Law & Society Review 29

9. Glendon M A and Gordon M W and Carozza P G, Comparative Legal Traditions (2nd edn, West Group 1999)
10. Glenn P H, ‘Legal Families and Legal Traditions’ in Mathias Reimann and Reinhard Zimmermann (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law (Oxford University Press 2007)
11. —— Legal Traditions of The World Sustainable Diversity in Law (3rd edn, Oxford University Press 2007)
12. Green-Gonas C, ‘The Scandanavian Legal System: An Introduction’ (1989) 6 Ariz. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 181
13. Güven K, ‘Hukuk Çevreleri Ayrımında Alman Hukuku’nun Yeri ve Temel Özellikleri’ (2016) 65(3) Ankara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi 637
14. Hagstrøm V, ‘The Scandinavian Law of Obligations’ (2007) 50 Scandinavian Studies in Law 117
15. Hammerslev O, ‘Convergence and conflict perspectives in Scandinavian studies of the legal profession’ (2010) 17(2) International Journal of The Legal Profession 135
16. Husa J, ‘Classification of Legal Families Today. Is it time for a memorial hymn?’ (2004) 56(1) Revue internationale de droit comparé 11
17. —— ‘Legal Families’ in Jan M. Smits (ed), Elgar Encyclopedia Of Comparative Law (Edward Elgar 2006)
18. Husa, J and Nuotio, K and Pihlajamaki, H, ‘Nordic Law - Between Tradition and Dynamism’ (2008) TICOM - Tilburg Institute of Comparative and Transnational Law Working Paper No. 2008/10 accessed 31 December 2019
19. Kischel U, Rechtsvergleichung (C.H. Beck 2015)
20. Lando O, ‘Scandinavian Law in Practical Implication: Characteristic Features, Solutions of International Interest, Social Dimension’ (2007) 50 Scandinavian Studies in Law 157
21. Larsson J, ‘Conflict-resolution mechanisms maintaining an agricultural system. Early modern local courts as an arena for solving collective- action problems within Scandinavian Civil Law’ (2016) 10(2) International Journal of the Commons 110
22. Le Bouteillec N and Zara B and Festy P, ‘Freedom to Divorce or Protection of Marriage? The Divorce Laws in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in the Early Twentieth Century’ (2011) 36(2) Journal of Family History 191
23. Legrand P, ‘European Legal Systems Are Not Converging’ (1996) 45(1) The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 52
24. Letto-Vanamo P and Tamm D, ‘Nordic Legal Mind’ in Pia Letto-Vanamo and Ditlev Tamm and Bent Ole Gram Mortensen (eds) Nordic Law in European Context (Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019)
25. Lookofsky J, ‘Desperately Seeking Subsidiary: Danish Private Law in the Scandinavian, European, and Global Context’ (2008) 19 Duke J. Comp. & Int’l L. 161
26. Lundell B, ‘Legal Education in Sweden’ (Learning from Each Other: Enriching the Law School Curriculum in an Interrelated World, Soochow University, Kenneth Wang School of Law Suzhou, China, October 17-19, 2007)
27. Lundmark T, Charting the Divide Between Common and Civil Law (Oxford University Press 2012)
28. Mattei U, ‘Three Patterns of Law: Taxonomy and Change in the World’s Legal Systems’ (1997) 45(1) American Journal of Comparative Law 5
29. Merryman J H, The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Western Europe and Latin America (2nd edn, Stanford University Press 1985)
30. Modéer K A, ‘Scandinavian exceptionalism: The development of odern Swedish tort law’ in Nils Jansen (ed) The Development and Making of Legal Doctrine V. 6 (Cambridge University Press 2014)
31. Nelken D, ‘Legal Culture’ in Jan M. Smits (ed), Elgar Encyclopedia Of Comparative Law (Edward Elgar 2006)
32. Nylund A and Øyrehagen Sunde J, ‘Courts and Court Proceedings’ in Pia Letto-Vanamo and Ditlev Tamm and Bent Ole Gram Mortensen (eds), Nordic Law in European Context (Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019)
33. O’Brien R and Williams M, Global Political Economy: Evolution and Dynamics (3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan 2010)
34. Oğuz A, Karşılaştırmalı Hukuk (Yetkin Yayınları 2003) Ørebech P, ‘Western Scandinavia: Exit Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch - The Resurrection of Customary Laws’ (2013) 48(3) Texas International Law Journal 405
35. Ortwein II B M, ‘The Swedish Legal System: An Introduction’ (2003) 13(2) Ind. Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 405
36. Örücü E, The Enigma of Comparative Law Variations on a Theme for the Twenty- first Century (Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V. 2004)
37. —— ‘A General View of ‘Legal Families’ and of ‘Mixing Systems’’ in Esin Örücü and David Nelken (eds), Comparative Law: A Handbook (Hart Publishing 2007)
38. Özsunay E, Karşılaştırmalı Hukuka Giriş (İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınları 1976)
39. Pihlajamaki H, ‘Against Metaphysics in Law: The Historical Background of American and Scandinavian Legal Realism Compared’ (2004) 52 Am. J. Comp. L. 469
40. Sacco R, Einführung in die Rechtsvergleichung (Jacob Joussen tr, 2nd edn, Nomos 2011)
41. Schlesinger R B and Baade H W and Herzog P E and Wise E M, Comparative Law Cases-TextMaterials (6th edn, Foundation Press 1998)
42. Schultz M, ‘The impact of institutions and proffessions in Sweden’ in Paul Mitchell (ed) The Impact of Institutions and Professions on Legal Development V. 8, (Cambridge University Press 2014)
43. Siems M, Comparative Law (2nd edn, Cambridge University Press 2018),Strömholm S, ‘Introduction’ in Stig Strömholm (ed), An Introduction to Swedish Law (Springer Science +Business Media 1981)
44. Sundberg J W F, ‘Civil Law, Common Law and the Scandinavians’ (1969) 13
45. Scandinavian Studies in Law 179 Tamm D, ‘Eidora Romani Terminus Imperii - Roman Law in the North’ (1996) 2 Fundamina 39
46. —— ‘Why Roman Law - Danish Arguments for the Study of Roman Law’ (2010) 16 Fundamina 428
47. —— The History of Danish Law (DJOF Publishing 2011)
48. Van Hoecke M and Warrington M, ‘Legal Cultures, Legal Paradigms and Legal Doctrine: Towards a New Model for Comparative Law’ (1998) 47(3) The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 495
49. Varga C, Comparative Legal Cultures (Szent István Társulat 2012)
50. Zweigert K and Kötz H, Einführung in die Rechtsvergleichung (3rd edn, J.C.B. Mohr Paul Siebeck 1996)