medansvar

Medansvar is a term used in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish to describe shared or joint responsibility for a person, action, or outcome. It conveys that more than one actor bears accountability, and that responsibility may be distributed among participants according to their roles or fault.

In legal contexts, medansvar denotes joint liability. When several parties contribute to a harm or breach of obligation, they can be held responsible together, possibly with liability allocated by degree of fault or by contractual terms. Some legal systems use joint and several liability, while others use proportional or tiered sharing of responsibility.

In organizational, educational, and safety settings, medansvar refers to a collective duty to uphold rules, ensure safety, and achieve outcomes. This can include employees, managers, students, or members of a team who share accountability for processes, compliance, and the consequences of actions.

Examples: a school class sharing responsibility for a project outcome; several co-owners sharing maintenance obligations; a company and its contractors sharing liability for a failed installation.

Etymology and usage: medansvar comes from med- “with” and ansvar “responsibility.” The term is common in Nordic legal and administrative language and is used to emphasize collaborative accountability rather than isolated fault.

See also: joint liability, accountability, co-responsibility, tort law.