The status of the judiciary in Sweden is to be seen against the background of the unique constitutional setting underpinning the Swedish legal order. With the gradual abandonment of the constitution from 1809, the adoption of the new Swedish constitutional act in 19741 represents the elevation of the principle of popular sovereignty to the position of the main and overarching constitutional value. Hence all public power is considered to derive indivisibly from the people2 and the different branches of Government merely exercise the different functions vested in them by the constitution.3 This is reflected in a concentration of power in the legislative and the executive branches.