Lecture: The Constitutional Role of Public Administration in the Nordic Countries: Democracy, Rule of Law and Effectiveness under European Influence

Description

In a democracy based on the rule of law, administrative authorities such as tax authorities or municipal social boards should effectively carry out the political will of democratically elected politicians, but in a manner that safeguards individual rights, the rule of law and accountability. The seminar introduces an on-going comparative research project on the constitutional role of public administration in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). As stable democratic societies basing on the rule of law, the Nordic countries and their administrative structures have gained international interest. At the same time, they have rarely been in the focus of interest in international legal research.

Although the Nordic countries display similarities, there are also interesting differences along an East-West line. The West-Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland and Norway) are more similar to traditional tri-partite models of separation of powers, with most administrative authorities organised under the Executive branch, that is within governmental ministries. Contrastingly, the Eastern countries (Sweden and Finland) feature a system where the administrative authorities are organised independently from the Government with a large scope for independent decision-making without political interference. These differences also relate to the structures for accountability, for example concerning judicial review of administrative decisions. Here, the West-Nordic systems provide a model similar to the Anglo-Saxon form of review in ordinary courts, whereas the East-Nordic countries provide for appeal to administrative courts. The different Nordic approaches to the balancing between the interests of democracy, the rule of law and effective administrative decision making may provide interesting perspectives on the legal framework for administrative authorities. The requirements flowing from EU law and the ECHR on administrative procedure have meant special challenges in this respect. The presentation discusses how the administrative law systems of the Nordic countries may provide opportunities for fruitful comparison and theory building concerning the role of public administration in contemporary European democracies.

Period	2019 Nov 7
Held at	Sigmund Freud Private University, Austria
Degree of Recognition	International