Till Örebro universitet

The rule of law demands that States establish an appropriate minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) and guarantee effective procedural rights protection for children in conflict with the law. Based on case studies of the child justice systems of Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, this chapter explores what an appropriate MACR requires in terms of procedural rights for children below and above the MACR. It is concluded that, even in supposedly progressive jurisdictions, there is still a world to win when it comes to safeguarding the rule of law and chidren´s rights protection in child justice.

In a democratic society, it is assumed that the criminal law is applied ultima ratio and that certain requirements regarding legal certainty are met. These include the principle of conformity. This means that only those who had the ability and opportunity to comply with the law may be criminal liable. Consequently, those who are young or suffer from a severe mental disorder at the time of the crime must be free from criminal liability. Yet such persons can be held accountable in Sweden as the Swedish Criminal Code (1962:700) lacks a requirement of accountability. If a defendant at trial still suffers from a severe mental disorder, they will be sentenced to treatment. To achieve the requirements of a fair trial in these cases the court may only, as in other criminal cases, impose criminal liability if it is established beyond reasonable doubt that the act alleged by the prosecutor was committed by the defendant with intent or negligence. This must be evident in the judicial decision even if a simplified form for the judgment is applied. The latter is possible to use when a defendant was suffering from a severe mental disorder when committing the act, has confessed, and has been sentenced to treatment. The purpose of the present work is to investigate in a number of judgments whether and how the court reasons in relation to intent or negligence. Furthermore, it investigates whether a simplified form is used and how it relates to the requirements of a fair trail. The survey shows that in almost half of the judgments the issue of guilt is not mentioned at all. Instead, the emphasis is on external circumstances and the level of the defendents consciousness. The reasons given for the jugdgment are very brief and often issued in a simplified form. The survey reveals that the evaluation of evidence regarding guilt in these cases is problematic and probably a consequence of the absence of a requirement of accountability in the Criminal Code. The study concludes that the absence of this accountablity requirement results in the exclusion of a very vulnerable group from the principle of conformity. In other words, this group of defendants is deprived of a fair trial regarding the issue of guilt in the event of conviction. This is a right aimed at maintaining confidence in the judiciary and the criminal justice system.

The paper is a part of a collaborative reserach organized by the International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates (AIMJF/IAYFJM) on child participation in juvenile justice. The article explains the legal, institutional and procedural aspects of child participation in the Justice System in Sweden.

The aim of this study is to make a cost-benefit analysis of the Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) program, a treatment program for children and juveniles with behavioural problems who are placed in out-of-home placements. Compared to treatment as usual, TFCO has been shown to reduce the number of violent crimes. This study estimates the net present value (NPV) of the program by comparing the expected reduction in cost of violent crimes due to the introduction of the program to the incremental cost of the program. The result shows a positive NPV of $37,829 per participant, or a total NPV of $718,751.

In this article, the #MeToo movement, as a socio-political form of e-discourse (discourse enacted on social media platforms and other types of online channels), will be examined in terms of the effectiveness of its discursive forms and the kinds of effects these have had on social consciousness generally with regard to sexual misconduct in the workplace, and in terms of the cases it has made famous against individuals via “trial-by-social-media,” and their outcomes in people’s lives. The specific cases discussed in this paper are those concerning well-known Swedish and American media personalities, which are assessed within a broad discourse and legal framework. Overall, we conclude that, while movement has had a profound effect on social consciousness, so far it has not impugned the validity of legal systems in countries such as Sweden and the United States.

Det svenska rättssystemet som tillåter att vi dömer psykiskt sjuka för brott och att personer som saknar vårdbehov kan hållas frihetsberövade inom rättspsykiatrin under mycket lång tid med oklart vårdinnehåll, är unikt och har fått rättmätig kritik under lång tid. Ändå händer ingenting. 

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: In this article the research objectives are the rights of children deprivedof liberty and suspected of having committed crimes in international and regional agreements aswell as in Swedish legislations and intended to preserve the child’s dignity.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The method applied to study their dignity is, onone hand, in the context of international and regional agreements; on the other hand, in the contextof Swedish legislations, which are relevant to these children.

THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The argument is whether in Sweden children underthe age of 15 years deprived of liberty and suspected of having committed crimes are treated ina manner consistent with promoting the child’s sense of dignity during the investigation of the crime.These children are of particular interest as they are more vulnerable than adults in the same situation;the spirit of dignity should therefore be more explicitly expressed for them.

RESEARCH RESULTS: The research result confirms that dignity is fundamental for the rights ofchildren as expressed in the studied international and regional agreements and, more specifically,in the CRC Articles 37 and 40.

CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Swedish legislations still needimprovements to preserve the dignity of children, particularly regarding the rights of children underthe age of 15 deprived of liberty and suspected of having committed crimes.