I objektivitetens sken - en kritisk granskning av objektivitetsideal, objektivitetsanspråk och legitimeringsstrategier i diskurser om dömande i brottmål.
Author
Summary, in English
The adjudication process is one of society’s most intrusive forms of power. To maintain the general public’s confidence in the judiciary, it is crucial that the judicial activities are perceived as being conducted objectively and hence legitimately. Criminal trials have been subjected to scrutiny and criticism of various kinds in the media as well as in internal debates within the legal discipline, this in turn, arise questions about objectivity and legitimacy of the enforcement of criminal law. In this thesis, the author argue that lawyers and judges understanding of objectivity is relevant to the interpretation they make of the law and of the reality that they face in their daily operations.
The study includes an analysis of a crucial part of the literature on evaluation of evidence. The analysis shows how parts of a human practice that is highly complex is described in a positivist-scientific tradition where the person judging and the person being judged are made invisible. The study also contains an analysis of judgments in aggravated assault cases. In the analysis of judgments the author shows how different legitimizing strategies are used, and contributes to the semblance of objectivity. What is striking in this part of the study is the complete lack of representation of the legal actors, given their central roles for the progress of the trial. The defence counsel, the prosecutor as well as the judges are completely erased in the judgments.
The conclusion of this study is that the positivist objectivity ideal has a strong position. The author argues that this is one of the reasons why certain norms and values, which to a large extent are common within the group of people that interprets and applies the laws and interprets the reality that the laws applies to, are made invisible and appears to be normal, natural and necessary. Instead of an objectivity ideal where the one that sees and interprets and ultimately judges must scrutinize her- or him self, and be able to see her or his own values, these are hidden in the semblance of the positivist objectivity.
The study includes an analysis of a crucial part of the literature on evaluation of evidence. The analysis shows how parts of a human practice that is highly complex is described in a positivist-scientific tradition where the person judging and the person being judged are made invisible. The study also contains an analysis of judgments in aggravated assault cases. In the analysis of judgments the author shows how different legitimizing strategies are used, and contributes to the semblance of objectivity. What is striking in this part of the study is the complete lack of representation of the legal actors, given their central roles for the progress of the trial. The defence counsel, the prosecutor as well as the judges are completely erased in the judgments.
The conclusion of this study is that the positivist objectivity ideal has a strong position. The author argues that this is one of the reasons why certain norms and values, which to a large extent are common within the group of people that interprets and applies the laws and interprets the reality that the laws applies to, are made invisible and appears to be normal, natural and necessary. Instead of an objectivity ideal where the one that sees and interprets and ultimately judges must scrutinize her- or him self, and be able to see her or his own values, these are hidden in the semblance of the positivist objectivity.
Department/s
Publishing year
2013
Language
Swedish
Full text
Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Makadam förlag
Topic
- Law
Keywords
- Evaluation of evidence
- Critical discourse analysis
- Legal knowledge
- Judging
- Criminal trials
- Objectivity
- Procedural law
- Processrätt
Status
Published
Supervisor
- Per Ole Träskman
- Ulrika Andersson
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 978-91-7061-126-1
Defence date
12 April 2013
Defence time
13:15
Defence place
Pufendorfsalen, Juridiska institutionen, Lilla Gråbrödersgatan 3 C, Lund
Opponent
- Johanna Niemi