ABSTRACT

Sweden belongs to the Scandinavian family, accordi ng to New man and Thor (1996, pp. 27-76). This family differs significantly from the British family, but less so from the Napoleonic and Germanic families. The influence of the Germanic family is particularly obvious in the system, with its emphasis on written law. Yet the Scandinavian legal system has adopted its own style, avoiding the precision and codification of the German system. A complete legal code has never been formulated; the Scandinavian legal system seems to be more pragmatic. Administratively speaking, the Scandinavian family is something of a hybrid. As with the Napoleonic family, there is a strong relationship between national and regional governments. The central government has agencies operating at a regional level, trying to implement national spatial policy; this may be regarded as a strong tendency towards centralization. At the same time, local governments are getting organized at a larger scale for reasons of efficiency. The dual development of centralization versus decentralization is prominent within the Swedish system.