Disputationer 2025

Margareta Björkvald

Att underhålla, bygga om och bygga nytt.
En hyres-, skatte- och redovisningsrättslig studie gällande bostadshyresfastigheter.

Datum för disputationen: 6 maj
Fakultetsopponent: professor Stefan Olsson, Karlstads universitet.
Ämne: Finansrätt

Abstract

This dissertation examines the regulation of necessary building maintenance and improvement measures under rent, tax and accounting law, to investigate how income and expenditure attributable to building measures are legally handled in the three areas. The mapping of current law will then make it possible to investigate and analyse the extent to which the regulatory framework creates incentives to construct and maintain the Swedish rental buildings in good condition, and whether changes in the legislation need to be considered in view of the ongoing transition from linear to circular construction processes.

Since the property is the object of the study, the dissertation starts with a description of some property-related concepts and of some of the features of the property and residential rental market. It then examines the legal system unique to Sweden, known as the utility value system (bruksvärdesystemet). In particular, the degree of modernity and standard of repair of the utility value factors are examined, as they have a bearing on the rental value of construction work. It also discusses the distinction in rental law between maintenance and standard-enhancing measures, based on the rules in the Rent Act on building measures. In connection to this, it shows how rent is determined for the different types of building measures.

To determine the tax treatment of expenditure on building work, the income tax criteria for classifying building work and the tax rules on immediate deductions, the extended repair deduction and the depreciation deduction are then examined. Following these investigations, a review and comparison is made of the treatment under rental and tax law of each of the previously identified construction measures. The comparison starts with maintenance measures and gradually moves on to standard-enhancing measures and alterations. This comparison is followed by an investigation in the third area of law examined, external accounting, of how construction measures are recorded in the K2 and K3 accounting regulations. The investigation also shows the links between accounting and taxation.

The results of the study are presented in the final chapter and are essentially that the maintenance measures that the property owner is obliged to carry out under rental law without being able to increase the rent are met by direct deductions under tax law and simultaneous expensing in the accounts. Correspondingly, the measures that are considered to raise standards and rents under rental law increase the taxable acquisition value and the reported building value. Furthermore, the legislation creates certain incentives that counteract the transition to circular construction processes, for example, the use of recycled building materials and energy efficiency measures is made more difficult, while necessary standard-enhancing measures are not rewarded. Therefore, it can be discussed, for example, whether replacement of interior surface layers and equipment that are not physically, technically and economically worn out should be allowed, and whether immediate tax deductions should also be allowed for more expensive restoration measures, if these are justified by environmental considerations.

Läs mer om Margareta Björkvalds avhandling i universitetets forskningsportal

Manni Ardzejewska

Dying, Dementia & Law
Pursuing Legal Responsibility at the End of Life

Datum för disputation: 9 maj
Fakultetsopponent: professor Rosie Harding, University of Birmingham
Ämne: Socialrätt

Abstrakt

Dying with dementia is characterised by difficulties with decision-making and limitations as to access to appropriate end-of-life care. Meanwhile, law and society, are predicated on individualism and the medicalisation of death in a way that marginalises physical and cognitive illness. Nevertheless, as a purveyor of rules, norms and values, law arguably has the potential to contribute to collective responsibility for death and dying with dementia. Against this backdrop, this thesis addresses the following question in the interrelated fields of health and elder law in the context of Sweden: What is the role of law in shaping and responding to death and dying with

dementia in Sweden? In pursuit of this question, the aim is to critically interrogate the nature and consequences of law in death and dying with dementia in order to better understand, and evaluate, the relationship between law and the end of life. This is connected to the broader aim of improving the experience of dying with dementia To capture law and its consequences for end-of-life decision-making with dementia, this research engages a multi-method approach. This includes semi-structured interviews with physicians informed by legal consciousness theory to account for the everyday experience of law as well as doctrinal and critical analysis through the lens of a feminist approach to vulnerability. In this, individalism, and the related overemphasis on the preservation of life and a non-interference approach to choice is revealed and critiqued to

exist at the expense of a commitment to opportunities for both relational empowerment and care as is central to the embodied human reality. Through platforming the vulnerable legal subject, legal responsibility at the end of life is pursued through the recreation of the law as it pertains to end-of-life decision-making with dementia. In grappling with questions of care, empowerment, ethics, law and the everyday, this thesis contributes to legal method and discourse on death and dying beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of Sweden.

Läs mer om Manni Ardzejewskas avhandling i universitetets forskningsportal

Hoda Hosseiny

On Genuine Will and Genuine Self
A Critical Analysis of 'Will and Preferences' Under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Datum för disputation: 27 maj
Fakultetsopponent: professor Jonathan Herring, University of Oxford
Ämne: Mänskliga rättigheter

Abstrakt

This thesis critically examines the concept of patient autonomy and ‘will and preferences’ in the context of treatment refusal/withdrawal under Article 12 of the CRPD. It critiques the assumption that autonomy can be protected by simply giving legal effect to patients’ expressed will and preferences without considering their genuineness. The thesis argues for a temporary restriction of liberty, proposing that decisional support be provided to ensure that patients are supported in making decisions aligned with their genuine will, which, it is argued, should be understood in light of their genuine self or identity. Accordingly, it proposes a two-step approach: first, the support person(s), in collaboration with the patient, should determine the patient’s genuine will. Second, the support person(s) should help the patient develop their genuine will. In addressing the first step, the thesis engages with theories of authenticity, as well as the narrative view of identity. These theories are examined to assess their suitability in connecting genuine will with genuine self-expression. The thesis develops a relational view of the genuine self and identity, recognising the significant role of social relations in shaping them. Specifically, it uses Marya Schechtman’s narrative self-constitution theory, which emphasises the importance of life stories in identity formation. In the second step, the thesis draws on ethics of care, compassion, the alleviation of suffering (both the subjective suffering of the patient and the suffering of those to whom they have caring obligations), and the importance of genuine dialogue in developing genuine will. The thesis demonstrates that even in cases where a patient’s impairment is central to their genuine will and identity, care and compassion are crucial in helping patients develop their genuine identity beyond their experience of impairment. In particular, the role of narratives shaped through patients’ social interactions, informed by care and compassion, is explored, highlighting their crucial role in patients’ self-perception, the stories they tell themselves about their experiences, and the development of their identity. The thesis findings have implications for reformulating the concept of free and informed consent and suggest that it should not be viewed as a one-time act of consent or refusal, but rather as a collaborative process. Also, this approach moves away from an individualistic notion of voluntariness, which often sees external influences as threats, and instead emphasises the importance of caring and compassionate social relations in enabling patients to give free and informed consent. When genuine will, genuine self, and autonomy are understood through a relational lens, involving others in decision-making does not undermine autonomy; rather, it enables autonomy.

 

Läs mer om Hoda Hosseinys avhandling i universitetets forskningsportal