Nordic cooperation

Judicial cooperation supports the Nordic countries in advancing the common basic principles laid down in Nordic legislation in accordance with the shared Nordic values. Nordic judicial cooperation helps politicians and public officials establish contacts and communication with each other and, where necessary, facilitates coordination related to discussions and negotiations to be conducted in international forums such as the Council of Europe and the UN. 

Judicial cooperation between the Nordic governments is led by the ministers of justice, who form the Nordic Council of Ministers for Justice Affairs. The Nordic ministers of justice convene annually, in addition to which ministers from the Nordic countries meet with ministers from the Baltic countries every two years.

Cooperation within the framework of the Nordic Council of Ministers particularly focuses on maintaining the basic conditions for democracy, trust and cohesion in the Nordic countries. Judicial cooperation has three strategic priority areas: legal certainty, uniformity of Nordic legislation and the benefits of this, and crime prevention.

Search engine for statutes covering the Nordic and Baltic countries’ legislation

The purpose of the project for developing a digital search engine for statutes is to establish good practices and thus strengthen cross-border data exchange between the Nordic and Baltic countries. The aim is to facilitate the comparison of legislation in different countries and to encourage the participating countries to use data that is in machine-readable format and complies with common standards.

The project will examine what kinds of information requirements a shared interface between countries would have and what would be required of countries interested in participating in the development of the search interface in the future.