During the 17th century, the need for a thorough revision of the medieval national codes grew stronger. In1686 a legislative commission was appointed and given the task to establish one unified law for the whole of Sweden.The commission worked carefully through every area of law. Several drafts were delivered which were scrutinised inter alia, by the Courts of Appeal and by Swedish representatives in the provinces abroad, before the Four Estate Parliament eventually passed the new code in 1734.The code, which still is formally in force, was the first pan-Swedish one, even though special regulations remained for rural areas and towns.Another feature was that the code was intended not to contain any rules concerning constitutional issues, privileges given to individuals or directed towards particular professions, trades or commerce. Legal historians have held different opinions about the innovativeness of the code.Was it an “Enlightenment Code” or just a continuation of an old tradition?35 Stig Jägerskiöld has stated that the Swedish Code of 1734 was the product of a new era. He refers to the fact that the members of the law commission and their colleagues, among others Samuel Pufendorf (1632-1694), were inspired by the relatively recent ideas of a secularised and political-instrumental legal theory. Jägerskiöld argues that a legal reform was rather unpopular at the time when the code was prepared.These factors explain why the code, for tactical reasons, had to be presented in a traditional disguise by means of a casuistic style, and why some of the men involved stated that the code did not mean much more than a modernisation of an already established law.36 Hannu Tapani Klami has characterised the code as “the first modern Code of Enlightp a r t 1 i , c h a p t e r 2 34 35 The meaning of “Code” and “Enlightenment” have been discussed by among others van Caenegem1993, pp.42-43, van Caenegem1988, pp.115-116and Zweigert & Kötz 1992, pp. 76-77, 87-99. See also Halpérin 1986. 36 Jägerskiöld 1983; Jägerskiöld 1984.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=