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

Abstract

This article is based on the following question: does Nordic procedural law exist? Procedural law is often regarded as a national matter, and, unlike in many other legal disciplines, there has not been any official Nordic legislative collaboration in this field. Whether one can refer to procedural law as Nordic or not also has an impact on our perception of procedural law as part of a Nordic community. One way of examining the ‘Nordic-ness’ of procedural law is to examine the sources of inspiration used when reforming procedural codes and acts. These sources are found in the preparatory works to the legislation. This article surveys the sources that have been used to reform the procedural codes and acts in the Nordic countries over the last three centuries and shows how the objects for the procedural reforms have an impact on the choice of sources of inspiration. The survey also shows that the object for the reforms changes over time, and this influences the choice of sources of inspiration. Further, the use of the sources found in the preparatory works is discussed, and this brings us back to the starting point—namely whether, based on the use of the sources of inspiration, the procedural law in the Nordic countries can be described as Nordic.

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“…Pabrėžtina, kad aptariamo teisingumo vykdymo turinio esmė -dialogo siekis tarp įstatymų leidžiamosios bei teisminės valdžių ir tokia priemone pasirinkti visuomenės atstovai teismo procese 80 . Be to, šiose valstybėse prioritetas yra teikiamas žodiniam teismo procesui, kuris yra susijęs su šiais asmenimis, nes rašytiniame teismo procese visuomeniniai teisėjai (teismų tarėjai) ir prisiekusieji nedalyvauja 81 . Dalyvaujančių byloje asmenų parodymų išklausymas, įrodymų ištyrimas žodiniame teismo procese laikomas veiksmingesne priemone faktiniams duomenims nustatyti, nei vien tik byloje esančių duomenų ištyrimas ir vertinimas rašytinio proceso tvarka.…”