Scandinavian Legal Realism and the Challenge of Recognizing Emergency Medical Service as a Legal Norm
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46282/blr.2020.4.2.192Keywords:
Emergency Medical Service, Human Rights, Legal Philosophy, Scandinavian Legal RealismAbstract
Emergency medical service (EMS) forms a sub-category of the internationally recognized right to health. However, despite the codification of the right to health in various human rights conventions which have been implemented in national legislation, EMS still seems to be regarded as an economic expense or a political decision rather than a legal norm or a human right. This paper evaluates the causes for such a misunderstanding, primarily through Scandinavian Legal Realism which emphasizes the social contextualization of law. Supplementary scholarly views, as well as a history of human rights, are also applied to support the main arguments. Essentially, the paper claims that the challenge of recognizing EMS as a legal norm is associated with the relatively abstract and impersonalized nature of emergency care.
References
Amnesty International (2018a). Mapping Anti-Gay Laws in Africa. Retrieved from: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/lgbti-lgbt-gay-human-rights-law-africa-uganda-kenya-nigeria-cameroon (accessed on 03.07.2020).
Amnesty International. (2018b). Face Veil Ban Discriminatory Violation of Women’s Rights. Retrieved from: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/08/denmark-face-veil-ban-a-discriminatory-violation-of-womens-rights/ (accessed on 03.07.2020).
Arendt, H. (1958). The Origin of Totalitarism. London: A Harvest Book, Harcourt Brace & Company.
Baaz, M. (2009). Introducing Scandinavian Legal Realism to the English School of International Relations. BISA’s Annual Conference 2009.
Bagatur, S. (2014). Towards a Democratic Conception of Human Rights. Theoria and Praxis, 2(1). ISSN: 2291-1286.
Banaker, R. (2010). Law, Rights and Justice in Late Modern Society: a Tentative Theoretical Framework. In: Banakar, R. (ed.), Rights in Context: Law and Justice in Late Modern Society (2010, pp. 19-37). Surrey: Ashgate. ISBN-13: 978-1-4094-0740-9.
Berkmanas, T. (2010). Schmitt v. (?) Kelsen: The Total State of Exception Posited for Total Regulation of Life. Baltic Journal of Law and Politics, 3(2), 98-111. DOI: 10.2478/v10076-010-0012-x.
Bix, B. H. (2009). Ross and Olivecrona on Rights. Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, 34, 103-119.
Bittner, B. (2015). On Invoking Human Rights When There Aren’t Any. In Kaul, S. and Kim, D. (eds.), Imaging Human Rights (2015, pp. 69-81), Berlin: De Gruyter, Berlin. ISBN: 978-3110376197.
Bjarup, J. (2005). The Philosophy of Scandinavian Legal Realism. Ratio Juris, 18(1), 1-15. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9337.2005.00282.x.
Blechman, M., Chari, A., and Hasan, R. (2012). Human Rights are the Rights of Infinite: An Interview with Alain Badiou. Historical Materialism, 20(4), 162-186. DOI: 10.1163/1569206X-12341235.
Brownlee, K. (2015). Do We Have a Human Right to the Political Determinants of Health?. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 502-514).New York: Oxfrod University Press. ISBN 9780199688623.
Buchanan, A. (2015). Why International Legal Human Rights?. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 244-262). New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.003.0014.
Cambell, T. (2011). Parliamentary Review with Democratic Charter of Rights. In: Cambell, T., Ewing, K. D., and Tomkins, A. (eds.), The Legal Protection of Human Rights: Sceptical Essays (2011, pp. 453-471), New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606078.003.0022.
Carty, A. (2003). Scandinavian Realism and Phenomenological Approaches to Statehood and General Custom in International Law. European Journal of International Law, 14(4), 817-841. DOI: 10.1093/ejil/14.4.817.
Charvet, J. and Kaczynska-Nay, E. (2008). The Liberal Project and Human Rights: The Theory and Practice of a New World Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511755972.
Clayes, G. (2015). Socialism and the Language of the Rights: the Origins and Implications of Economic Rights. In: Slotte, P. and Halme-Tuomisaari, M. (eds.), Revisiting the Origins of Human Rights (2015, pp. 206-234). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-1-107-10764-9.
Eberle, E. J. (2011). The Methodology of Comparative Law. Roger Williams Law Review, 16(51), 51-72.
Eliasz, K., and Jakubiec, M. (2016). The Vienna Circle and Uppsala School of Philosophical Inspiration for the Scandinavian Legal Realism. Semina Scientarium, 15, 107-123. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15633/ss.1771.
Eng, S. (2011). Lost in the System or Lost in Translation? The Exchanges between Hart and Ross. Ratio Juris, 24(2), 194-246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9337.2011.00482.x.
Faralli, C. (2014). Law as Fact. Revus, 24, 57-67. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/revus.3001.
Finnis, J. (2011). Human Rights and Common Good: Collected Essays, Volume III. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199580071.001.0001.
Fredman, S. (2008). Human Rights Transformed: Positive Rights and Positive Duties. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199272761.001.0001.
Gould, C. C. (2015). A Social Ontology of Human Rights. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 177-195). New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.003.0010.
Gündogdu, A. (2014). A Revolution in Rights: Reflections on Democratic Invention of the Rights of Man. Law, Culture and Humanities, 10(3), 367-379. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1743872112459034.
Hallituksen esitys eduskunnalle eräiksi avioliittolain muutoksen edellyttämiksi lainmuutoksiksi (2015). (Government’s Proposal for the Parliament to Change the Marriage Law), HE 65/2015.
Hart, H.L.A. (1959). Scandinavian Realism. Cambridge Law Journal, 17(2), 133-140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008197300007650.
Hart, H.L.A. (1983). Essays in Jurisprudence and Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780198253884.
Hayden, P. (2001). The Philosophy of Human Rights. St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
Holtermann, J.V.H. (2017). A Straw Man Revisited: Resettling the Score between H. L. A. Hart and Scandinavian Legal Realism. Santa Clara Law Review, 57(1), 1-41.
Hunt, L. (2007). Inventing Human Rights: A History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN-13: 978-0393331998.
Institute for Economics & Peace. (2020). Global Peace Index 2020: Measuring Peace in a Complex World. Sydney. Retrieved from: http://visionofhumanity.org/reports (accessed on 03.07.2020).
Jorgensen, S. (1984). Scandinavian Legal Philosophy. Bulletin of the Australian Society of Legal Thinking, 8(2), 2-18.
Kammerhofer, J. (2009). Kelsen – Which Kelsen? A Reapplication of the Pure Theory to International Law. Leiden Journal of International Law, 22, 225-249.
Kant, I. (1793). The Principles of Political Right. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights (2001, pp. 110-117). St. Paul: Paragon, 112-113. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
Keedus, L. (2011). ’Human and Nothing But Human’: How Schmittian is Hannah Arendt’s Critique of Human Rights and International Law?, History of European Studies, 37(2), 190-196. ISSN: SSN0191-6599.
Khan, G. (2012). Politics and Morality in Habermas’ Discourse of Ethics. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 38(2), 149-168. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453711427254.
Kistner, U. (2014). A Politics of Human Rights – the Right to Rights as Universal Right to Politics?, Acta Academica, 46(3), 122-133, p. 122. ISSN 0587-2405.
Leeper, R. V. (1996). Moral Objectivity, Jürgen Habermas’s Discourse Ethics, and Public Relations. Public Relations Review, 22(2), 133-150. ISSN: ISSN-0363-8111.
Lefort, C. (1986). The Political Forms of Modern Society: Bureaucracy, Democracy and Totalitarism. The MITT Press. ISBN: 9780262620543
Li, X. (1996). Asian Values and Universality of Human Rights. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights (2001, pp. 397-408). St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 9781557787903.
Lon Fuller, L. (1964). The Morality and Law. In: Hart, H.L.A. (ed.), Essays in Jurisprudence and Philosophy (1983, pp. 343-364). New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/aprof:oso/9780198253884.001.0001.
Mansikka, H. (2018). Sote-uudistus saattaa tuoda lääkärihelikopterin myös Kaakkois-Suomeen, nyt tilanne perustuslain vastainen. Etelä-Saimaa, 24 March 2018.
Margolis, H. (2018). Denmark’s Face Veil Ban Latest in Harmful Trend: Restrictions Discriminate against Muslim Women. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/01/denmarks-face-veil-ban-latest-harmful-trend (accessed on 03.07.2020).
Marx, K. (1844). On the Jewish Question. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights (2001, pp. 127-135), St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
McLoughlin, D. (2016). Post-Marxism and the Politics of Human Rights: Lefort, Badiou, Agamben, Ranciére. Law Critique, 27, 303-321. DOI: 10.1007/s10978-016-9177-0.
Meckled-Garcia, S. (2015). Specifying Human Rights. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 300-315), New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780199688630.
Mill, J. S. (1859). On Liberty. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights (2001, pp. 143-146), St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
Mill, J. S. (1861). Utilitarism. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights (2001, pp. 137-143), St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
Monshipouri, M. and Welch, C. E. (2001). The Search for International Human Rights and Justice: Coming to Terms with New Global Realities. Human Rights Quarterly, 23(2), 370-401. DOI: 10.1353/hrq.2001.0020.
Moyn, M. (2008). The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674064348.
Neier, A. (2012). The International Human Rights Movement: A History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN: 9780691135151.
Nelken, D. (1984). Law in Action or Living Law? Back to the Beginning in Sociology of Law. Legal Studies, 4(2), 157-174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-121X.1984.tb00439.x.
Nickel, J. W. (2015). Personal Desert and Human Rights. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 153-165). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780199688630.
Niemi, M. (2015). The Influence of Jurisprudential Theories on Legal Dogmatics in Finland in the Area of Civil Law. Revista Direito Mackenzie, 9(1), 27-45. ISSN: 2317-2622.
Oman, N. (2010). Hannah Arendt’s Right to Have Rights: A Philosophical Context of Human Security. Journal of Human Rights, 9(3), 279-302. DOI: 10.1080/14754835.2010.501262.
Parekh, S. (2004). A Meaningful Place in the World: Hannah Arendt on the Nature of Human Rights. Journal of Human Rights, 3(1), 41-52. DOI: 10.1080/1475483042000185215.
Pattaro, E. (2009). From Hägerström to Ross and Hart. Ratio Juris, 22(4), 532-548. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9337.2009.00439.x.
Pettersson, J. (2011). Rethinking Political Subjectification: Equality Beyond a Community of Sameness. Distinction: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 12(3), 255-269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2011.614814.
Payandeh, M. (2011). The Concept of International Law in the Jurisprudence of H. L. A. Hart. The European Journal of International Law, 21(4), 967-995. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chq065.
Picker, C. B. (2011). Comparative Law Methodology & American Legal Culture: Obstacles and Opportunities. Roger Williams University Law Review, 16(86), 86-99.
Pihlajamäki, H. (2004). Against Metaphysics in Law: the Historical Background of American and Scandinavian Legal Realism Compared. The American Journal of Comparative Law, 52 469-488. ISSN: 0002-919X.
Pogge, T.W. (1995). How Should Human Rights Be Conceived?. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights, (2001, pp. 187-211), St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
Ranciére, J. (2010). Dissensus on Politics and Aesthetics. London: Continuum International Publication Group, London. ISBN-13: 978-1472583550.
Raz, J. (2015) Human Rights in the Emerging New World Order. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 217-231). New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.003.0012.
Renzo, M. (2015). Human Needs, Human Rights. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 570-587). New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.003.0033.
Rorty, R. (1993). Human Rights, Rationality and Sentimentality. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights (2001, pp. 241-257). St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
Rousseau, J-J. (1762). The Social Contract. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780199538966.
Sartre, J-P. (1945). Existentialism & Humanism. London: Methuen. ISBN-13: 978-0413776396.
Spaak, T. (2014). A Critical Appraisal of Karl Olivecrona’s Legal Philosophy. Basel: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-06167-2.
Schmidt, F. (1978). The Uppsala School of Legal Thinking. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.
Schmitt, C. (1929). The Concept of Political. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN-13: 978-0226738925.
Schmitt, C. (1932). Legality and Legitimacy. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN: 978-0-8223-3174-2.
Somek, A. (2007). Kelsen Lives. The European Journal of International Law, 18(3), 409-451, p. 411-414. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chm028.
Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö (2018). Työryhmä Selvittää Lääkärihelikopterien Uusien Tukikohtien Sijoituspaikkakunnat.
Helsinki: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. (Ministry of Social Welfare and Health. (2018). Working Group Established to Determine the Geographical Bases for New HEMSs). Retrieved from: https://stm.fi/-/tyoryhma-selvittaa-laakarihelikopterien-uusien-tukikohtien-sijoituspaikkakunnat (06.07.2020).
Tahdon 2013 (2013a). Kansalaisaloite Tasa-arvoisen Avioliittolain Puolesta (Citizen’s Initiative for Equal Marriage Law). Retrieved from: http://www.tahdon2013.fi/ (accessed on 03.07.2020).
Tahdon 2013. (2013b). Citizen’s initiative. Retrieved from: http://www.tahdon2013.fi/in-english/why-a-citizens-initiative/ (accessed on 03.07.2020)
Tamanaha, B. Z. (2006). A Socio-Legal Methodology for the Internal/External Distinction: Jurisprudential Implications. Fordham Law Review, 75(3), 1255-1274.
Tasioulas, J. (2015). On the Foundation of Human Rights. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Right (2015, pp. 45-70), New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.003.0002.
Tesón, F. R. (1985). International Human Rights and Cultural Relativism. In: Hayden, P. (ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights (2001, pp. 379-396). St. Paul: Paragon. ISBN-13: 978-1557787903.
The Independent. (2018). Denmark becomes latest European country to ban burqas and niqabs. Retrieved from: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-burqa-ban-europe-muslim-women-face-veil-niqab-islam-a8377586.html (accessed on 03.07.2020).
Tomuschat, C. (2003). Human Rights: Between Idealism and Realism. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780199683734.
Uusitalo, J. (2018a). From Legislative Shortcomings towards Better Protection of Human Rights: Analysis of Legislation on the Emergency Medical Service in Finland and Estonia. European Journal of Health Law, 25(4), 389-406. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718093-12540387.
Uusitalo, J. (2018b). Protecting Economic Interests or the Right to Life? Perception of the European Court of Justice on Emergency Medical Services. Baltic Journal of European Studies, 8(1), 197-209. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bjes-2018-0011.
Uusitalo, J. (2018c). Responsibility to Protect and Human Security: Doctrines Destroying or Strengthening the Sovereignty?. International and Comparative Law Review, 18(1), 93-107. DOI: 10.2478/iclr-2018-0027.
Van der Hemel, E. (2008). Included but not Belonging: Badiou and Ranciére on Human Rights. Krisis/Journal of Contemporary Philosophy, 2008(3), 16-30.
Weithman, P. (2009). John Rawls and the Task of Political Philosophy. The Review of Politics, 71(1), 113-125.
Wolff, J. (2015). The Content of the Right to Health. In: Cruft, R., Liao, M. and Renzo, M. (eds.), Philosophical Foundation of Human Rights (2015, pp. 491-501). New York: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199688623.003.0028.
![](https://ojstest.flaw.uniba.sk/public/journals/2/submission_192_267_coverImage_en_US.jpg)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Bratislava Law Review
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Author(s) transfers copyright to the Article to the Publisher of the Journal by the Licence Agreement.
The Author(s) retains rights specified in the Licence Agreement.
The readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all of the Article of the Journal and use them for any other lawful purpose under specified Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).