On Tuesday 12 May, Vice-President Arnfinn Bårdsen delivered a keynote speech on “Resilient Democracy”, at the bi-annual Nordic Conference on Constitutional Law organised by the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo. The overall topic of the conference was “The Nordic Region in a New Era of Security Policy: Constitutional Law Challenges.” Vice President Bårdsen emphasised that the growing vulnerability of democratic systems in an age of permanent crisis, combined with democratic backsliding and the erosion of the rule of law, threaten the foundations of liberal democracy across Europe and beyond.

He maintained that democratic resilience cannot be obtained by suspending democracy, but by reinforcing, relying upon, and trusting democracy’s structuring mechanisms, its safeguards, and its checks and balances.

He moreover emphasised that while democracies must be capable of defending themselves against internal and external threats, such defence must remain within the limits of the law and democratic values. By protecting human rights and the rule of law effectively and steadfastly, democracies build resilience against authoritarian trends and give legitimacy to the political process. Independent courts and judicial oversight, he made clear, is not an obstacle to democracy, but one of its pillars without which democracy cannot stand.