Procedural law is an important component of any legal system. The formal rules that make up what in academic settings is recognized as a core element of legal science do not merely provide the framework for how the official processing of the law can be performed. Procedural law also determines the efficiency of the court sector and at the same time its principles provide the outmost protection against violations of the rule of law. Not surprisingly, procedural law is a much debated topic. It is also a vital part of the legal education

This 51:st volume of the Scandinavian Studies in Law presents 26 articles on Scandinavian Procedural Law. The articles have all been written by academic jurists, highly prominent judges and officials active in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. At least two features make the recent development of procedural law in the Scandinavian counties interesting from a broad international perspective. The Scandinavian legal systems exhibit a unique mix of civil and common law traditions, and the judiciaries have in the last decade been profoundly affected by the European Union integration project. In several cases this has resulted in innovative solutions but also given rise to intense debates. In addition to the various articles on procedural law this volume contains presentations of the courts administration bodies in all the Scandinavian countries