Nordic Approaches to International Law


Book Description

In August 2015, international legal scholars and expert practitioners from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden gathered to discuss contemporary issues of international law from a Nordic perspective: Do the “shared Nordic values” extend to embrace a common perspective on international law and policy beyond the Nordic region? And do international legal scholars in the Nordic countries share a professional outlook enabling us to speak of a distinct “Nordic approach to international law”? This book contains a selection of the conference papers, which all address aspects of Nordic approaches to international law - varying significantly in terms of subject area, methodology and style. The book is relevant to international legal scholars in the Nordic countries and beyond.




Nordic Law in European Context


Book Description

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.




Human Rights Law and Regulating Freedom of Expression in New Media


Book Description

The Nordic countries are well known globally for their high human rights standards and, at the same time, high degree of internet freedom. This edited collection reveals how the Nordic countries have succeeded in the task of protecting freedom of expression in the new media. It contains an overview of public policy choices and best practices of domestic online companies, which have the aspiration of finding global acceptance. Reviewing the topic of freedom of expression in new media within Nordic and Baltic countries, this book incorporates both general themes and interesting country-specific themes that will provide wider knowledge on the development of freedom of expression and media law in the online media era. A comprehensive analysis of regulation of online media, both at the level of legislation and application of law in courts and other authorities, are included. This book will contribute to the ongoing discussion as to whether there is a need to modify prevailing interpretation of freedom of expression. Human Rights Law and Regulating Freedom of Expression in New Media focuses on the multi-layered and complicated relationship between internet and human rights law. It contributes to the ongoing discussion regarding the protection of freedom of expression on the internet in the context of various doctrines of constitutional law, including the proliferation of constitutional adjudication. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students in the fields of human rights law, internet law, political science, sociology, cultural studies, media and communications studies and technology.




Nordic Approaches to Climate-Related Human Mobility


Book Description

Academic discussion of climate‐related human mobility has understandably focused on the places where people are especially vulnerable to climate‐related harm: the Global South. Yet, the unique biophysical, legal and socio‐political characteristics of the Nordic region, as well as its roles as both ‘home’ and ‘host’ to climate‐related mobilities, justify its independent attention. Filling this lacuna, this collection is the first to address climate‐related human mobility in the Nordic region. It is a timely and much needed collection, which brings together leading and emerging voices from both academia and practice in a single volume, spanning policy and geographical breadth. Its chapters cover both regional approaches to the global phenomenon of climate mobility, such as the traditional role of the Nordic states as norm entrepreneurs and their representation in multilateral fora, and on‐the‐ground climate impacts unique to this region and their localised responses. Case studies include judicial decision‐making as it relates to climate‐related migration, insights into the local communication of climate risk, changes to Nordic development and climate policy, as well as climate‐related mobilities of Nordic Indigenous Peoples. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of disaster and climate studies, as well as climate‐related mobility, migration and displacement.




European International Law Traditions


Book Description

​International Law is usually considered, at least initially, to be a unitary legal order that is not subject to different national approaches. Ex definition it should be an order that transcends the national, and one that merges national perspectives into a higher understanding of law. It gains broad recognition precisely because it gives expression to a common consensus transcending national positions. The reality, however, is quite different. Individual countries’ approaches to International Law, and the meanings attached to different concepts, often diverge considerably. The result is a lack of comprehension that can ultimately lead to outright conflicts. In this book, several renowned international lawyers engage in an enquiry directed at sorting out how different European nations have contributed to the development of International Law, and how various national approaches to International Law differ. In doing so, their goal is to promote a better understanding of theory and practice in International Law. /divChapter “What Are and to What Avail Do We Study European International Law Traditions?” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.




New Approaches to International Law


Book Description

This volume offers a unique reflection on the historic and contemporary influence of the New Approaches to International Law (NAIL) movement within the context of Europe and America. In particular, the contributions focus on the intellectual product of NAIL's founder, David Kennedy, in relation to three legal streams: human rights, legal history, and the law of war. On the one hand, the volume is valuable reading for a broad audience interested in the current challenges facing global governance, and how critical studies might contribute to innovative intellectual and practice-oriented developments in international law. On the other hand, stemming from a 2010 seminar in Madrid that brought together scholars to discuss David Kennedy's scholarship over the last three decades, the contributions here are a testament to the community and ideas of the NAIL tradition. The volume includes scholars from a wide field of legal interests and backgrounds.




The Making and Circulation of Nordic Models, Ideas and Images


Book Description

This critical and empirically based volume examines the multiple existing Nordic models, providing analytically innovative attention to the multitude of circulating ideas, images and experiences referred to as "Nordic". It addresses related paradoxes as well as patterns of circulation, claims about the exceptionality of Nordic models, and the diffusion and impact of Nordic experiences and ideas. Providing original case studies, the book further examines how the Nordic models have been constructed, transformed and circulated in time and in space. It investigates the actors and channels that have been involved in circulating models: journalists and media, bureaucrats and policy-makers, international organizations, national politicians and institutions, scholars, public diplomats and analyses where and why models have travelled. Finally, the book shows that Nordic models, perspectives, or ideas do not always originate in the Nordic region, nor do they always develop as deliberate efforts to promote Nordic interests. This book will be of key interest to Nordic and Scandinavian studies, European studies, and more broadly to history, sociology, political science, marketing, social policy, organizational theory and public management. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.




Nordic and Germanic Legal Methods


Book Description

To gain a proper understanding of a foreign legal system, a legal scholar cannot rely on written sources alone. He must also familiarise himself with how these are interpreted and applied to hard cases. However, materials explaining legal methods are often difficult to access for foreign lawyers, as they tend to be written in the national language and build on a series of preconceptions inherent to the specific legal order. It is therefore the purpose of this book to provide the comparative legal scholar with the tools to overcome some of these initial obstacles and gain a better understanding of how colleagues from different legal systems think about law. The book gives an introduction to the legal methods of the countries in the Nordic and Germanistic legal families, primarily addressed to foreign readers, thus explaining also those unspoken preconceptions. It further seeks historical and cultural explanations for present-day legal methods, and explores the impact of internationalisation as well as the possibility of a common European legal method.




Rethinking Nordic Courts


Book Description

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.




Law and The Christian Tradition in Scandinavia


Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive history of law and religion in the Nordic context. The entwinement of law and religion in Scandinavia encompasses an unusual history, not widely known yet important for its impact on contemporary political and international relations in the region. The volume provides a holistic picture from the first written legal sources of the twelfth century to the law of the present secular welfare states. It recounts this history through biographical case studies. Taking the point of view of major influential figures in church, politics, university, and law, it thus presents the principal actors who served as catalysts in ecclesiastical and secular law through the centuries. This refreshing approach to legal history contributes to a new trend in historiography, particularly articulated by a younger generation of experienced Nordic scholars whose work is featured prominently in this volume. The collection will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal History and Law and Religion.