Two Visions of Time: The Different Temporalities of the Rättsstat and the Rule of Law

The rule of law is everywhere, yet at the same time there is an ongoing sense
that it is threatened. However,in the article we take a closer look at some of the
core elements of the concepts of the rule of law and the rättsstat (the latter, as
will be further elaborated, we understand to be different from the rule of law),
and explore how they are and have been reflected in Swedish law in different
times. The article is structured around the hypothesis of two existing paradigms that have gradually – and overlappingly – been present in Scandinavian Law
tradition: the rättsstat and the rule of law. We study how the two paradigms have shaped the relationship between, first, the legislature and the courts, and second, between the state and the individual. Thereafter, we argue that these two paradigms encompass two different theoretical structures of legal thought of which distinct visions of time are amongst the most striking.