Democracy and Lawlessness : The Penitentiary Laws and Civil Disobedience in Norway 1928-1931 / by Hans Petter Graver.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Graver, Hans Petter, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Law--Philosophy.

Law.

Law--History.

Law and the social sciences.

Political science.

Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History.

Socio-Legal Studies.

Legal History.

Political Theory.

Local Subjects:

Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History.

Socio-Legal Studies.

Legal History.

Political Theory.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (167 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2024.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland : Imprint: Springer, 2024.

Summary:

The book addresses efforts to politically influence and curb the judicial system, by telling the story of the enactment of controversial laws in Norway in 1927. It draws parallels to current challenges to the autonomy of the legal order, both in countries where populist forces seek control over the courts, and in other countries where increasing levels of conflict, such as around the climate crisis and the pandemic, challenge the rule of law. In 1927 the Norwegian Parliament enacted three laws that changes the rules of the game in the relation between Labor and Capital. The law was weaponized in benefit of the employers. By this, the legislature departed from the classic ideal of equality before the law and law’s autonomy as a neutral order. The new laws were called the penitentiary laws. The demonstrations against one of the laws, the Arbitration Act in 1928 were the largest manifestation of civil disobedience in Norwegian history. They provoked a level of lawlessness that has not been matched, with exception of the situation during the German occupation 1940-1945. The book analyses the events with the aid of the theory of civil disobedience in liberal democracies put forward by the philosopher John Rawls and the theory of the legal complex developed by the socio-legal scholars Terence Halliday, Lucien Karpic, and Malcolm Feeley. This book tells the story of the Penitentiary Laws, how the laws came into being, how they were received and resisted, and how they were defeated through civil disobedience and with the support of a legal complex which reached far into the legal system. The outcome of the conflict may be one of the factors that explain the high level of trust that the legal institutions enjoy in present day Norway.

Contents:

Grandfather

The years of great struggle

The creation of the Penitentiary Law

Challenging the Arbitration Act:The Construction Workers' Dispute

Criminal law against industrial action

The battle for the lay judges

Civil disobedience and the legitimacy of the actions

All’s well that ends well

Epilogue.

ISBN:

3-031-69055-9