CONFERENCE: Defending the rule of law in times of crisis: Past, present and future perspectives [Olof Palme Guest Professor 2025, Dag MICHALSEN] (Uppsala: Upssala University, 12-13 JUN 2025)

 

 

Defending the rule of law in times of crisis: Past, present and future perspectives

 

Conference in Uppsala 12-13 June 2025

 

We live in times of multiple threats and challenges. War, climate change, pandemics, polarization and more, put society and everyday life into perspective. Each of these threats also seriously challenges democracy and the rule of law, implicitly as well as directly, blatantly so during this spring. This workshop brings together Nordic and Baltic legal researchers to examine weaknesses, resilience and restoration of the rule of law - nationally and regionally – contextualizing, analyzing and imagining past, present and future situations. The researchers participating all have unique insights on how constitutional fundaments such as the rule of law have been tested and questioned in concrete cases. What did we learn from examples from the 20^th Century? How can historical and current examples have an impact on future choices and how we relate to state, administration and civil society?

 

Dag Michalsen, Olof Palme guest professor 2025,

 appointed by The Swedish Research Council

 

The theme for the Olof Palme guest professor 2025 is Experiences of crisis. Nordic constitutional history, in particular the interwar time.

 

The workshop is hosted by

The Olin Foundation for Legal History 

 

 

 

Time: 12-13 June 2025

Venue: Faculty Room (fakultetsrummet), Faculty of Law, Uppsala university, Trädgårdsgatan 1.

 

 

Thursday 12 June

 

9.30      Coffee/tea

 

10.00 – 10.15 Welcome

Anna Singer, Dean, Faculty of Law

 

10.15 – 12.00 Session 1: Past and Present

Erik Wennerström: Echoes of the 20th Century: The Rule of Law, the ECtHR, and Democratic Resilience in Europe.

Anna Jonsson Cornell: The Rule of Law & National Security - a Swedish Perspective

Comments: Elin Boyer & Inger Österdahl

 

12.00 – 13.30 Lunch

 

13.30 – 15.00 Session 2: Restoring the Rule of Law

Karin Sein & Merike Ristikivi: Restoring the Rule of Law in Estonia

Comments: Sara Holmström & Caroline Taube

 

15.00 – 15.30 Coffee/tea

 

15.30 – 17.00 Session 3: A Defending the Rule of Law

Anna-Sara Lind: The Constitutional Human Rights Protection

Olof Wilske: Constitutional sustainability

Comments: Rawaz Shanagar & Dag Michalsen

 

 

Friday 13 June

9.30-10.00       Coffee/tea

10.00 – 11.00 Session 4: Dismantling the Rule of Law

Hans-Petter Graver: How Autocrats Dismantle the Rule of Law.

Comments: Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg & Linnéa Gullholmer

 

11.00 – 12.00 Panel Discussion. Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg, Görel Granström, Linnéa Gullholmer, Sara Holmström, Dag Michalsen, Erik Wennerström. Moderator: Anna-Sara Lind.

 

12.00 – 13.30 Lunch. End of conference.

 

Registration at Medfarm. Last day for registration Friday 30 May.

For further information, please contact Marianne Dahlén, marianne.dahlen@jur.uu.se

 

 

Olof Palme guest professor 2025, Dag Michalsen:

https://www.uu.se/institution/juridiska/forskning/olof-palmes-gastprofessur-2025

 

Olin Foundation: https://olinfoundation.com/