One more winner of the Emil Heijne Foundation prize for Legal Research
Karolina Stenlund, Doctor of Laws, formerly active at the Uppsala Department of Law, is one of the recipients of the award for “valuable contributions to legal research”.
The Board of the Emil Heijne Foundation for Legal Research, administered by the Swedish Bar Association, recently awarded a number of researchers for meritorious and valuable contributions to legal research. Karolina Stenlund, who received her doctorate in June 2021 at the Faculty of Law in Uppsala with the thesis “The Rights Argument in Swedish Tort Law” (Rättighetsargumentet i skadeståndsrätten), is one of the recipients of 100 000 SEK.
Dissertation abstract:
In 2021 it is evident that human rights and freedoms are part of Swedish tort law and are here to stay. This dissertation consists of a dogmatic review of the possibility of claiming damages based on the ECHR, Chapter 2 of the Swedish Constitution (the Bill of Rights), the EU Charter, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The assessments of the conditions for liability, causation, and compensation are discussed in detail. In addition, the so-called “radiation effect” of human and civil rights to civil law is presented.
The historical development of human rights is also described. The international human rights discourse is set in relation to the development of Swedish tort law theory – with a specific focus on the 20th century. In addition, the author explains how violations of human rights became a valid legal argument for claiming non- pecuniary damages in Swedish courts. Albeit “natural” for lawyers stemming from a tradition where the guiding principle is the separation of powers doctrine, this way of looking at rights, in general, has not been common in Sweden. This has, in part due to the membership of the EU, now changed.
Karolina Stenlund is currently a postdoctoral researcher in legal history at EuroStorie - Center of Excellence in Law, Identity, and the European Narratives at the University of Helsinki. Her current research examines the foundations of the European rights discourse. A particular focus lies on EU’s references to historical events – such as Holocaust remembrance – when justifying new legislation.
Maria Cicilaki