Regress : Begreppet regressrätt och solidarregress

Sammanfattning: The right of recourse is a classic topic within law of obligations that spans traditional divisions into contractual and non-contractual law. Even so, there is a lack of consensus on what the right of recourse really entails. Still, it has been stated that there is an actual or technically correct concept of recourse and it has been suggested that an inability to understand the meaning of this concept can lead to methodological inaccuracies. Recourse, in the context of joint and several liability, is a core area for the legal science discourse on the right of recourse and is, in practice, a very important part of recourse. Such aspects of recourse are often discussed on the basis of broad explanatory models. However, case law reveals that the prevailing explanatory models can fail in providing a transparent and predictable overview of the legal situation and their compatibility with the general functions of joint and several recourse can be questioned.The thesis has two main aims. The first is to identify a concept of recourse that is rational for the legal conversation. The other main aim is to establish the fundaments of the order of recourse that is applied in “joint and several liability” in a broad sense (joint and several recourse).The thesis shows that there are several different views on the meaning of the right of recourse. Several of them seem to be the result of an author’s striving to find a definition that, to the greatest extent possible, can serve as a tool for drawing legal conclusions. In the thesis, existing views of the meaning of the right of recourse are tested against various legal norms wherein the right of recourse is a necessary condition. It is shown that all the presented views are falsified in at least one of the studied normative contexts and that the term “right of recourse” can refer to different concepts in different normative contexts. With a starting point in Carnap’s theory of explanation of vague concepts, a basic definition of “right of recourse” – that can serve as a form of general legal communication tool – is presented in the thesis.In the terminology of the thesis, joint and several liability is at hand in any case where multiple parties are all liable to the same creditor and the obligations are, for some reason, linked in such a way that all debtors are discharged, wholly or partly, by any debtor fulfilling their obligation. A particular order of recourse – joint and several recourse – is connected to the circumstance that all debtors are discharged by any debtor’s performance. The thesis describes the methodology and systematics of joint and several recourse, and the explanation behind this concept, with a basis in its overall functions as a general institute of claims law.