ABSTRACT
In Swedish labour law there is traditionally a clear distinction between public law and private law regulation. Industrial democracy law is considered in Sweden to be part of collective labour law, because it is normally the trade unions bound by collective agreements which are the bearers of the rights of wage-earners in such matters. In an international comparison of the systems for legal regulation of conditions on the labour market it appears to be characteristic for Sweden that the organisations on both sides exercise a great influence by means of collective agreements as an instrument of regulation. There is legislation on a collective agreement and its legal effects in the 1976 Act on the Joint Regulation of Working Life. In Sweden there is a free, public employment exchange. During legal proceedings before the Labour Court, an organisation has a right to bring and conduct a case for a member without that member giving authority.
