Constitutional Law : Constitutions

• Constitutions make up the foundations of societies and from a historical point of view there is little doubt that constitutional law and its various manifestations has had a crucial impact on the development of modern society. At a more detailed level constitutions provide meta rules about how state mechanisms and rule-making processes in a given society are intended to function. In this respect constitutional law sets up authoritative frameworks for how the administration is build up, and ultimately determines the nature of the relationship between a state and its citizens. Consequently it is also fair to say that constitutions define important components of national identities. The publication of this volume is well timed. In the European sphere constitutional law is currently much debated, especially as a consequence of the European Union (EU) integration project and its accompanying demands for constitutional revisions and adoption of super governmental principles. The impact of the project is much discussed and the opinions vary. The process also has initiated referendums in several countries, and the recent failure to ratify the new Constitutional Treaty has prompted a renewed debate on the legitimacy of European integration. Simultaneously a number of events in which several constitutional principles appear to clash with religious and ethical concerns have been given much attention in the media. Several recent incidents have also stirred up debates concerning the limits of constitutional principles and the need for revisions. The Danish publication of Muhammad caricatures, frequent clashes between principles concerning freedom of the press versus privacy, minority rights, and the protection of religious freedom are just a few examples of this. In the first part of this 52nd volume of Scandinavian Studies of Law (Sc.St.L.) 17 articles on constitutional law are presented. The second part is a documentation of the second annual conference of the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) Why Europe? Possibilities and limits of European integration which was held in Stockholm 16 November 2006. The purpose of the conference was to provide scholarly perspectives on the sources of legitimacy, the democratic credentials and the constitutional alternatives for the EU. The contributions in this section are further elaborations of the speeches delivered at the conference. In addition, in order to provide a background to the discussions, this volume presents English versions of the Constitutions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Table of Contents: Arajärvi, Pentti, The Finnish Perspective on the Last-Resort Support for Subsistence, p. 17-40 Bergström, Maria, New Modes of Constitution Making: Towards Fewer and More Flexible Provisions?, p. 41-48 Bernitz, Ulf, The European Constitutional Project and the Swedish Constitution, p. 49-64 Bull, Thomas, Blowing in the Wind? Swedish Protection of Whistler-blowers in the Public Sector, p. 65-78 Ekeli Skagen, Kristian, How Difficult Should it be to Amend Constitutional Laws? p. 79-102 Follesdal, Andreas, Would the Constitutional Treaty Help Alleviate the Union's Legitimacy Crisis?, p. 371-382 Follesdal, Andreas, Why International Human Rights Judicial Review might be Democratically Legitimate, p. 103-122 Jensen Hansen, Michael, The Protection of Property Rights Under the Danish Constitution, p. 123-132 Hautamäki, Veli-Pekka, Novel Rules in the Finnish Constitution - The Question of Applicability, p. 133-154 Koch, Henning, Right of Resistance - A European Democratic Notion, p. 155-186 Krunke, Helle, The Indirect Effect of the Treaty on a Constitution for Europe, p. 187-202 Langdal, Fredrik and von Sydow, Göran, Democracy, Legitimacy and Constitutionalism, p. 351-370 Moravcsik, Andrew, The European Union: Rhetoric and Reality, p. 383-392 Nergelius, Joakim, New Tendencies in Modern Nordic Constitutional Doctrine or the Development of Nordic Constitutional Law: Introduction and General Background, p. 11-16 Ojanen, Tuomas, EU Law and the Response of the Constitutional Law Committee of the Finnish Parliament, p. 203-226 Olsen Palmer, Henrik, The Right to Freedom of Religion: a Critical Review, p. 227-254 Rytter Elo, Jens, Constitutional Interpretation - Between Legalism and Law-Making, p. 255-272 Sand, Inger-Johanne, From National Sovereignty to International and Global Cooperation: The Changing Context and Challenges of Constitutional Law in a Global Society, p. 273-298 Shaw, Jo, One or Many Constitutions? The Constitutional Future of the European Union in the 2000s from a Legal Perspective, p. 393-408 Viljanen, Jukka, The European Convention on Human Rights and the Transformation of the Finnish Fundamental Rights System, p. 299-320 Zetterquist, Ola, A European Social Contract?, p. 321-348 The Constitutional Act of Denmark, p. 411-422 The Constitution of Finland, p. 423-448 Constitution of the Republic of Iceland, p. 449-458 The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, p. 459-474 Sweden: The Instrument of Government, p. 475-500

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SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik -- Juridik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law -- Law (hsv//eng)

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