sense of justice” (stödda på folkets rättsmedvetande).What was characteristic for the rules of customary law was that they were generally followed in the same way as the legal rules, in other words, not only voluntarily. But, Björling wrote, legal rules could be found even outside legislation and customary law. The most general and fundamental theses of private law had to be sought in part from other sources for example by an analogous interpretation of other acts. Not infrequently the courts had to cite the grounds for a certain section or sections of an act in support of their decisions instead of immediately applicable rules. However, not even this was always satisfactory.There were many instances in civil society that did not permit an application of even the just mentioned indirect analogous manner. If, for example, it was a question of deciding what rights and obligations ensued from an ordinary labour contract or a business contract (Sw. entreprenad), one had to look for other sources for what would be right. In such cases, one cited “the nature of things”, i.e. what one regarded as being the correct order for the relationship in question. In doing so, it was not permissible to base the decision on one’s own subjective opinion, but instead it was necessary to try as far as possible to find what was generally applicable in the prevailing legal view.The rules that applied to other conditions served as a guide to making a decision that agreed with the general basic principles on which the legal system as a whole could be said to rest.Thus, a more remote analogy formed the basis even for establishing what rules applied according to “the nature of things”. Berndt Hasselrot (1862-1930) was, among other positions, president of the court of appeal, the Swedish parliamentary ombudsman and minister of justice. He too discussed which of the rules of the Statute on Hired Servants should be transferred to the new, free service contracts by analogous application. Quoting p a r t i v, c h a p t e r 9 238 Hasselrot
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=