Expertkunskap som grund för rättsliga avgöranden? - En studie av hur professionell kunskap överförs till och används av jurister vid beslutsfattande i domstol.

The overall aim is to analyze Swedish court decisions in three types of cases; social assistance, crimes against life and health and
decisions related to the Planning and Building Act. The research question is how professional knowledge, based in sources other
than sources of law and produced by other methods than legal methods, are being transferred to and used by lawyers in judicial
decision-making. A further aim is to describe, and analyze how legal methods work in practice, and how knowledge transfer to the
court affects legal certainty and goal effectiveness. Based on three theoretical models of decision making, norm rationality, goal
rationality and balancing of interests, knowledge transfer will be studied in four empirical materials: a selection of court rulings, a
selection of case-material from courts, participant observation and interviews with judges, completed with analysis of the sources of
law. Written judgments will be analyzed using a model that combines two different methods of argumentation analysis with narrative
analysis in relation to legal methods, taking into consideration effects on legal security and goal effectiveness. Analysis are expected
to contribute to an improved understanding of the problems of legal decision-making and an improved transformation of knowledge
to the court from professionals of which the courts depend for their decision-making improving legal certainty and goal effectiveness.