Introduction

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Introduction

Introduction

Swedish rape legislation from use of force to voluntariness - critical reflections from an everyday life perspective

After decades of debate and reforms on the rape legislation, a shift from a use of force-based into a consent-based rape offence (with voluntariness as the decisive criteria) entered into force in Sweden in July 2018. The aim of this article is to review and critically analyse Swedish statutory regulation of rape, starting in the historical development and debates as a backdrop. The authors take their starting point in critique put forward within the field of feminist legal studies and uses an everyday life perspective to examine some of the assessments made in the preparatory work in the decisions made on how to best protect the individual’s right to personal and sexual integrity and sexual self-determination. The analysis shows that a male rationale permeates the preparatory works and points at a need for further research on the criterion of voluntariness and its presumptions on autonomy

I objektivitetens sken - en kritisk granskning av objektivitetsideal, objektivitetsanspråk och legitimeringsstrategier i diskurser om dömande i brottmål.

The adjudication process is one of society’s most intrusive forms of power. To maintain the general public’s confidence in the judiciary, it is crucial that the judicial activities are perceived as being conducted objectively and hence legitimately. Criminal trials have been subjected to scrutiny and criticism of various kinds in the media as well as in internal debates within the legal discipline, this in turn, arise questions about objectivity and legitimacy of the enforcement of criminal law. In this thesis, the author argue that lawyers and judges understanding of objectivity is relevant to the interpretation they make of the law and of the reality that they face in their daily operations. The study includes an analysis of a crucial part of the literature on evaluation of evidence. The analysis shows how parts of a human practice that is highly complex is described in a positivist-scientific tradition where the person judging and the person being judged are made invisible. The study also contains an analysis of judgments in aggravated assault cases. In the analysis of judgments the author shows how different legitimizing strategies are used, and contributes to the semblance of objectivity. What is striking in this part of the study is the complete lack of representation of the legal actors, given their central roles for the progress of the trial. The defence counsel, the prosecutor as well as the judges are completely erased in the judgments. The conclusion of this study is that the positivist objectivity ideal has a strong position. The author argues that this is one of the reasons why certain norms and values, which to a large extent are common within the group of people that interprets and applies the laws and interprets the reality that the laws applies to, are made invisible and appears to be normal, natural and necessary. Instead of an objectivity ideal where the one that sees and interprets and ultimately judges must scrutinize her- or him self, and be able to see her or his own values, these are hidden in the semblance of the positivist objectivity

Anti-Gender Hate Speech in Populist Right-Wing Social Media Communication

This report is the result of the European project titled "Hate speech, gender, social networks and political parties" (GENHA)(Reference: 875388

Report on legal and public policies proposals to address anti-gender hate speech

This report is the result of the European project titled "Hate speech, gender, social networks and political parties" (GENHA)(Reference: 875388

Map of the main political parties using hate speech against the "ideology of gender" through the social networks and internet in Europe

This report is the result of the European project titled "Hate speech, gender, social networks and political parties" (GENHA)(Reference: 875388

Hat och hot på nätet : en kartläggning av den rättsliga regleringen i Norden från ett jämställdhetsperspektiv

Hur näthat ska stoppas är en aktuell fråga i alla nordiska länder. Men att komma åt förövarna är inte helt enkelt. Ett av problemen är att lagstiftningen på området inte är uppdaterad. Därför har Nordisk information för kunskap om kön (NIKK), på uppdrag av Nordiska ministerrådet, kartlagt den rättsliga regleringen av hat och hot på nätet. Rapporten visar att såväl kvinnor som män är utsatta för kränkningar på nätet – i ungefär lika stor utsträckning. Män och kvinnor drabbas dock på olika sätt. När män – särskilt i offentligheten – utsätts för näthat är det oftare fråga om kränkningar med anspelning på yrkesskicklighet och kompetens eller hot om våld. Kvinnor utsätts istället för kränkningar med betydligt större inslag av sexism, sexuella hot och trakasserier som snarare kopplar an till person än profession. I hela Norden råder det en osäkerhet kring hur bestämmelserna som omfattar hatbrott ska tillämpas och var gränsen mot yttrandefriheten går, vilket leder till att bestämmelserna inte används i den utsträckning som i teorin är möjligt. Det innebär att det praktiska skyddet är litet för samtliga grupper, och i dagsläget obefintligt för dem som utsätts på grund av kön. Det bör sättas i relation till den forskning som visar att näthat mot kvinnor i stor utsträckning kan kopplas till kön

Rätt utan Sanning?

The legitimacy of the judiciary hinges on the presumption that truth can be found through the judicial process. Even though a distinction can be made between "truth" in a legal sense and "real truth", the legal truth can only be justified by its anchorage in "real truth". During the last few decades, the previosly all-powerful assumption of the objective nature of reality and knowledge has been challanged and criticized. Ideas of a more relativistic character has have gained influence in both science and society more generally. This article highlights questions such as how recent challenges to objectivistic views of knowledge and reality affect the legitimacy of the judiciary and the judicial process as it is today without recourse to objective truth. The article also points at recent developments in the criminal procedure from a realistic versus relativistic ideal. Changes in the Code of Judicial Procedure and the Mediation Processas an alternative to the traditional criminal procedureare discussed as examples of these recent developments

The Judge Under Pressure : Fostering Objectivity by Abandoning the Myth of Dispassion

The independence of the judiciary is challenged in several ways. One is the populist narrative of the judges as elitist, another is artificial intelligence being introduced into judicial evaluation. The traditional ideal of positivistic objectivity underpins both these narratives, even though research has shown that emotions are a crucial part of rational decision making. By scrutinising legal decision making from a sociology of emotions perspective, the authors offer a new understanding of how emotions function in court and how they can be used to safeguard judicial independence. The chapter shows the importance of the use of empathy and emotions in court to diminish the gap between the judge and participants in the courtroom process, and argues that the universalist claim and quantifying base of AI hide the importance of the judge to understand the specificities of each individual case, including contextual and relational aspects.. In contrast, emotions and empathy can be a means to legitimate the judiciary, and hence highlight the specific human aspects of judging