Institutions 2: Illustration of Law Reform

The development of liability in road accidents shows the importance, and also the limits of law reform committees.

Sweden uses special pre-legislative committees to develop proposals and send them round for consultation before draft legislation is sent to Parliament. A Committee with the task of creating rules on traffic accident compensation was set up in 1952. Its chairman was Ivar Strahl, a professor. The secretary was Erland Conradi, who later carried on the work. The Committee proposed that compensation for road accidents should be based not on fault, but on strict liability supported by compulsory insurance, irrespective of the fault of the driver. The proposal, presented to Parliament in 1957 was not adopted. But in 1974, a new Committee under Ulf K. Nordenson, at that time the State Secretary of the Department of Justice, later a Supreme Court judge took up most of the ideas. He had sought to channel compensation through one individual. This time, the proposals had the support of the insurance industry, which examined how the system worked in the United States and Canada. The scheme of the Traffic Damage Act 1975 provided for strict liability for personal injury.

In this case, individuals had ideas that strongly influenced committees. But getting a successful law enacted depended on persuading a key lobby group, the insurers.

Reform doesn't just lie on barren ground.