c o n t i n u i t y a n d c o n t r ac t 291 compromise of 1906 and many collective agreements. On the other hand, it had been criticised by trade union leaders and Social Democrats. In 1932, the court decided that there was no doubt that in Sweden as in other countries, there was a “general basic legal principle” that either party, with observance of the term of notice, could revoke the individual labour contract without giving any special reason for having given notice. In case 1933:159, the court explained that the principle also applied even if it had not been expressly confirmed in the collective agreement and could only be set aside after explicit restriction. The decisions of 1932 and 1933 have been criticised for not having given any sources of law in support of their position, but instead had brought forth a basic legal principle that could neither be regarded as self-evident nor generally applicable.According to Folke Schmidt, an alternative route would have been to ascertain that the question here belonged to one of the new areas of social relationships that lacked legal rules. The court could have then tried to establish whether there were any set patterns of behaviour between the parties that could form the basis for a new legal rule.595 At any rate, decision1929:29 meant that the obligation to work in principle was determined in accordance with the rules of the Statute on Hired Servants from1833, which stipulated that the working party should constitute an undetermined contribution at the disposal of the master. In both cases, labour meant an open contribution to the employer’s activity. Holding the balance, the impartial members of the Swedish Labour Court ascribed an extensive power to the employer to unilaterally change the individual worker’s obligation to do work through making changes in the employer’s activities. It is worth noting here that the results of other cases around 1930 departed from the principles of the 1833 Statute on Hired 595 Schmidt, F 1957, pp. 211-219; Geijer & Schmidt 1958, pp. 125-126.
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