Eric Bylander

Institution/Department: Department of Law
Previous studies: Uppsala University, Sweden; University of Oslo, Norway; University of Minnesota, USA; Stockholm University, Sweden
Thesis: The Principle of Orality: A Legal Study of Procedural Communication Forms in Swedish Law [in Swedish with summary in English], Faculty of Law, Uppsala University, 2006, ISBN 91-7678-623-4
Research areas: Procedural law, Courts, Rhetoric
Current research: Procedural law is sometimes referred to as “Lawyer’s law”. This is the law governing the machinery of the courts and the methods by which rights may be enforced in court. My major current research project (“Processlagstiftning”, “Procedural Legislation”) concerns some different aspects of law giving and legislative techniques in this field.
Procedural rules are developed through interplay between the courts and the legislator. From a general point of view, judges are considered to be among the most qualified law applicators. Discrepancies between intended and actual application of rules, for which judges are principally responsible, are therefore worthy of particular attention. In the light of this, the issues I am studying include the following:

To what extent do changes in procedural legislation lead to judges changing their actions?

What is characteristic for procedural rules that are respectively observed and not observed?

What discrepancies are tolerated by the legislator and why? What, on the other hand, gives rise to interventions by legislators into the area of procedural law?

A fundamental concept in the project is that Swedish legislative work in the field of procedural law should be contrasted with practice and theory in other countries. An increased understanding of application and development of the law in this area might possibly contribute to a better functioning court system.

E-mail address: Eric.Bylander@law.gu.se
http://www.hgu.gu.se/item.aspx?id=14361