Sweden is a country with a strong democratic tradition. In almost all of the international assessments in the areas of democracy, rule of law, human rights, independent media, strong civil society movements and the anti-corruption work, there is to be found in Sweden at the very top.
What are we going to be proud of, and that is a result of many decades of research and traditionsbyggande.
It is showing the international trend is clear. In recent years, democracy has been rolled back in many areas, and authoritarian regimes have taken over, and the progressive strengthening of the grip.
It is the case in Europe as well. Corruption is traditionally rife in many places, and many of the governments of the world have failed, or did not bother to hide it. When it comes to the rule of law, the EUROPEAN union has established an article 7 procedure against Hungary, and Poland, as they are the governments which pushed through the legislation, which is considered to restrict such a basic democratic structures are in place. In Poland, it has even gone as far as to the judges demonstrating on the streets against changes in the law, which they say threaten the independence of the judiciary.
the Story shows that, on paper, a robust constitution, it is not a guarantee. Ultimately, it is the political parties who have to take on that responsibility.
Democracy is not a once-for-all deal. It has to be taken by each and every generation. It needs to be defended, in any location, and at any time. All the democrats need to be ever ready to take on each and every single debate that is related to the freedom of expression and the rule of law and human rights, but we also need to make sure that there is a robust legislation for the defence of democracy. The development of the world indicates that it may be necessary sooner than we had expected.
for over a 100 years ago, came after a fierce political battle. It was a necessity. However, since then, it has been a tradition to search for the wide majority when it comes to the amendments to the constitution.
this is A good example of this is the recent Grundlagsutredningen, in which all the parliamentary parties came to an agreement on the reform of the constitution, which came into force on January 1, 2011.
It covers, among other things, that the courts had a separate chapter is devoted to Domarnämnden was set up, and both the found and the position was consolidated.
There is no need for a new wide-ranging review of the whole of government. We have been at the foundation of a good constitution, with a broad-based political support. On the other hand, the reason that, in the light of the developments we are seeing in other countries, to see how the protection of the constitution and of the independence of the judiciary looks like. The question is whether we can, in the long run, can rely on the tradition, and the unwritten rules of grundlagsförändringar any, shall be made by a broad majority.
< januariavtalet , which is a sakpolitisk the agreement between the government, the Centre party and the Liberal party is added, is now a cross-party parliamentary committee composed of representatives of all the parliamentary political parties.
the Committee, to be chaired by the president of the Supreme court in Anders, have signed a cooperation agreement, and it shall examine the following:
1 , Arrangements for the amendment of the constitution.
the Constitution provides a framework for the way in which the political power is to be exercised. These are the basic rules of democracy must be stable and must not be altered by the quick decision-making.
One such data protection can be found from the requirement of two identical parliamentary decisions with an election to amend the constitution of the country. It is the intermediate of choice, however, can be a choice. A government which wanted to change the constitution, would then be able to issue an additional choice. The committee will, therefore, examine whether there is an intermediate choice should be one of the mainstream options.
In a day is sufficient with a simple majority vote in the parliament’s decision on the constitutional amendment. It is not a requirement that a certain number of members of parliament to take part in the vote.
There is a slight adjustment. As in many other countries, the rules on qualified majority voting to all, or, at least, the most important grundlagsfrågorna.
the Committee, to review whether the introduction of the requirement of a qualified majority for the decision on amendments to the constitution, and that a certain number of the members of the board, as a minimum, to take part in the vote.
2
Measures to enhance the courts ‚and judges‘ independence. of the Courts, the independence of judges is already the case today, but may need to be further strengthened. An authoritarian government could, for example, by lowering the retirement age, to be able to decide on the retire of the judges. It would also be a reduction in the number of judges in the higher courts, or, vice versa, to greatly increase the number of judges in order to promote their own political interests.
the Committee must therefore assess whether it is necessary to the protection of the constitution against the fact that the retirement age for judges is lowered by the common law. You should also consider whether there should be a grundlagsreglering in the number of judges of the supreme court of justice. The committee will also look at the court service’s organization, governance, and the role of, and assess whether further steps need to be taken in order to increase their self-reliance.
3 the Constitution in order to criminalize the participation in a terrorist organization. , There is a broad support in the parliament for a comprehensive criminalization of the participation in a terrorist organization. Such a proposal was put forward by the government last year. The council, however, argued that the proposal was contrary to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of association. In order to be able to put in place a deltagandebrott is needed, therefore, is a constitutional amendment, and, therefore, the committee is also mandated.
the steps in order to strengthen the independence of the judiciary so as to be report to be submitted no later than the beginning of 2023. When it comes to the deltagandebrottet so as to be report to be submitted no later than the spring of 2021 at the latest, so that any changes to the constitution and the related law on the prohibition of the participation in a terrorist organisation, and may be imposed in 2022.
that a committee may, to the political parties, it is important the mission is to work together to develop proposals to improve the protection of our democracy. However, history shows us that, on paper, a robust constitution, it is not a guarantee. Ultimately, it is the political parties who have to take on that responsibility. In the fight against the proposal, which may undermine our system of government needs to be taken every day. The border of the authoritarian forces of the need to be clear both in the debate in the parliament. So, we will secure Sweden’s democracy for the future.
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