View source for Union and Security Act

{{Short description|Swedish law from 1789}}
The '''Union and Security Act''' ({{langx|sv|Förenings- och säkerhetsakten}}, {{langx|fi|Yhdistys- ja vakuuskirja}}), alternatively '''Act of Union and Security''', was proposed by King [[Gustav III of Sweden]] to the assembled [[Estates of the Realm]] during the [[Riksdag_of_the_Estates|Riksdag]] of 1789. It was a document, adding to the [[Swedish Constitution of 1772]] new provisions. The King strengthened his grip on power while at the same time riding on a popular wave that also meant a decrease in aristocratic power. It has been described as "fundamentally conservative".<ref name="Nordstrom2000">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/scandinaviasince0000nord |url-access=registration |last=Nordstrom |first=Byron J. |title=Scandinavia since 1500 |year=2000 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=0-8166-2098-9 |id={{LIBRIS|13561595}} |page=[https://archive.org/details/scandinaviasince0000nord/page/112 112] |access-date=21 December 2011}}</ref>

==Passage==
During the [[Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)|Russo-Swedish War]], in February 1789, Gustav summoned the [[Riksdag of the Estates]] and placed an Act of Union and Security before them. Three of the four estates accepted it, but the [[Nobility in Sweden|Noble]]s rejected it. Since three of the four Estates accepted it, it was passed and became law.<ref name="Nordstrom2000"/>

==Contents==
The Act of Union and Security gave the [[King of Sweden|King]] the sole power to declare war and make peace instead of sharing the power with the estates and the [[Privy Council of Sweden|Privy Council]].<ref name=subversion>{{cite book |title= History of the revolutions in Europe, from the subversion of the Roman empire in the west, to the Congress of Vienna |last1= Koch |first1= Christophe |last2= Cogswell |first2= Joseph Green |year= 1837 |publisher= S. Babcock & Co. |page= [https://archive.org/details/historyrevoluti01kochgoog/page/n217 197] |isbn= 978-0-665-01712-4 |url= https://archive.org/details/historyrevoluti01kochgoog}}</ref> The estates would lose the ability to initiate [[legislation]],<ref name=cambridge>{{cite book |title= The New Cambridge Modern History |last1= Crawley |first1= Charles William |last2= Clark |first2= George |year= 1965 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 0-521-04547-9 |page= 483 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mfV7qQ_oiVEC}}</ref> but they would keep the ability to vote on new taxes.<ref name="Nordstrom2000"/>

Another provision was that the King was enabled to determine the number of Privy Councillors and so he could abolish the Council altogether by determining their number to be zero. The judicial branch of the Privy Council (in {{langx|sv|Justitierevisionen}}) was then transferred to a new [[Supreme Court of Sweden|Supreme Court]].<ref>[https://runeberg.org/nfcc/0210.html An article about the Privy Council of Sweden (''Riksrådet'' in Swedish). The relevant information is at the bottom of column 388], ''[[Nordisk Familjebok]]''  {{in lang|sv}}</ref>

Most noble privileges were abolished with the Act, with most offices now available to all regardless of rank. Noble lands could now be bought by anyone instead of only by nobles.<ref name=cambridge/>

The law was in effect in Sweden until 1809, and in Finland until 1919.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.svd.se/a/RR2Wyd/radet-som-foll-offer-for-det-gustavianska-envaldet|title=Rådet som föll offer för gustavianska enväldet|publisher=Svenska Dagbladet|author=Dick Harrison|language=Swedish|date=11 January 2020|accessdate=9 November 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Constitution of Sweden]]
* [[Constitution of Finland]]
* [[1789 Conspiracy (Sweden)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Constitutions of Sweden}}
[[Category:1789 in law]]
[[Category:Legal history of Sweden]]
[[Category:Legal history of Finland]]
[[Category:1789 in Sweden]]
[[Category:Constitution of Sweden]]
[[Category:Defunct constitutions]]
[[Category:Grand Duchy of Finland]]
[[Category:Sweden during the Gustavian era]]
[[Category:Gustav III]]
[[Category:1789 in politics]]


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