In Sweden an oral hearing, the trial, is held as the ideal model for the criminal procedure and according to the legality principle reported crimes ought to be investigated and prosecuted. Over time high levels of reported crimes have led to an increase in pressure on the courts and other actors in the criminal process. This pressure has created new ways of dealing with reported crimes in summary procedures and to exceptions from the legality principle. Such changes have given the prosecutor a key role in deciding how cases are dealt with in the criminal process.  The purpose of this thesis is to examine the Swedish public prosecutor’s influence on the choice of cases that are investigated, prosecuted and tried in court during a trial. The study examines the prosecutors’ legal authority and how that authority has changed from the time that the Code of Judicial Procedure came into force in 1948 to the beginning of 2011. A starting point for the examination is that investigating, prosecuting and trying cases in the criminal process should be carried out in a way that is considered to be fair according to societal values, which are embedded in the legal system. Both decisions about which cases will be tried and the procedure involved in how to try them has to be performed in a way that seems to be fair. In the study the values that underlie the criminal process is examined through a model. This model assumes that the criminal process has been created and developed to satisfy different requirements, which can be separated into three main groups: the functions of the criminal process, legal principles and the main objectives of a good administration of justice. The model is used to analyze and discuss the development of the legal rules. The prosecutor’s authority and influence over the process has broadened and the use of summary procedures has served to place the focus on the police investigation instead of the trial. Among the objectives of a good administration of justice Speed and Cost effectiveness are considered to be more important than Security. As long as the Trust in the system is sufficient this development can continue. A conclusion from the study is that there is a need for some actor to prioritize and to do that openly. In the study the issue is raised whether it is time to question the legality principle as the main principle for the Swedish legal system. / <p>Förlagsutgiven med 3 månaders embargo.</p>

Examensarbetets ämnesval fastställdes i samråd med en kontaktperson på Brottsoffer- och personssäkerhetssektionen region Syd. Trots tydlig ansvarsfördelning mellan polis-och åklagarmyndighet samt ett väl utarbetat metodstöd finns en problematik med att kvinnor inte upprätthåller sin initiala medverkan i utredningar. Studien ämnar därmed att belysa hur kvinnor utsatta för våld i nära relation hanteras, vilket således handlar om att undersöka vilka verktyg polisanställda och åklagare har och på vilket sätt verktygen används. Frågeställningarna har besvarats genom semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer med polisanställda och åklagare i Malmö. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultatet att polisanställda och åklagare har verktyg att tillgå när kvinnan vill avbryta sin medverkan i utredning. De arbetsmetoder och verktyg som finns att tillgå när kvinnor inte längre vill medverka i utredningen används. Poliser i yttre tjänst är en viktig del för att kvinnorna ska upprätthålla sin initiala medverkan i utredningen. Motivation för kvinnans fortsatta medverkan krävs i de flesta ärenden, men när och i vilken utsträckning kan variera beroende på målsägandens inställning. Metodstöd används mer frekvent av vissa informanter och mer sällan av andra. Utifrån studiens resultat och med stöd av teoretiska utgångspunkter samt tidigare forskning har policyimplikationer tagits fram. Kunskap om normaliseringsprocessen anses vara en del i den ökade utredningskvaliteten som bedöms nödvändig för att få kvinnor att upprätthålla sin initiala medverkan. / The degree project was determined in consultation with a contact person in Region Syd’s Crime Victims and Personnel Security unit. Despite a clear designation of responsibilities between police employees and prosecutors, in addition to well- established guidelines, women not remaining as participants in the investigation is a problem. Therefore the study aims to elucidate how women subjected to intimate partner violence are treated by police employees and prosecutors. The study examines the tools police employees and prosecutors have and in the manner they are used. The questions have been answered through semi-structured telephone interviews with police employees and prosecutors in Malmö. In summary, new evidence shows that police employees and prosecutors have tools available to keep women in the investigation who wanted to remove themselves. The tools that are available when women no longer wish to participate in the study are used. Police officers are an important part of ensuring that women maintain their initial involvement in the investigation. Motivation to keep women in the investigation is required in most cases, but when and to what extent may vary depending on the plaintiff's attitude. The manual is used by the informants both frequently and less frequently. Policy implications have been developed based on the results of the study and with the support of theoretical perspectives as well as previous research. Knowledge of the ”normalization processes” is considered to increase the quality of investigation that enables women to maintain their participation.

In recent decades the Swedish legislature has increasingly focused on the treatment of victims of crime and the information they receive. Victimology research has also shown the importance of treating victims with respect and of keeping them informed of their rights and the progress of their case throughout the process. The requirements thus set have to be met by all judicial actors, which presuppose a level of cooperation among them. Cooperation therefore constitutes one way of meeting victims' needs. In the current study these three factors; information, good treatment and cooperation, are referred to as victims’ rights.           Studies have shown that victims experience shortcomings in the legal process regarding information and treatment. The causes of these shortcomings can be multiple, but from a legal point of view, however, the issue raises the question of whether there may be potential legal difficulties involved in incorporating adequate information and good treatment of crime victims into the judicial process. The purpose of this thesis is to study and analyse victims’ rights in the judicial process. As they are not without a legal context, these victims’ rights are analysed in relation to other legislation, principles and requirements that govern the functions of the judicial system, such as the duty of the police, prosecutors and courts to act objectively, conduct their work independently, and run an efficient legal process. The main question is whether the incorporation of victims’ rights conflicts with other rules and legal principles.         The study concludes, inter alia, that victims’ rights concerning the treatment of victims and coordination of the work with victims is vaguely regulated and the intended meaning of the requirements are not clear, which may lead to problems when these requirements are incorporated into the justice system. Regarding information, treatment of victims and coordination and cooperation, little guidance is given about how to incorporate this at the local level. Informational requirements are expressed more clearly in the legislation, but how and to what extent information to victims should be given can still be a matter of interpretation on the part of the actors. The existence of local differences is therefore likely, which can affect the actual support that individual victims gain access to. The legislature could choose to further clarify and elaborate upon how victims’ rights issues relate to other aspects of the judicial process, how priorities or balancing of interests should be handled as well as to reveal the underlying motives for such considerations. Such clarification could possibly increase the consistency of the incorporation of victims’ rights, and transform abstract goals into concrete actions.

I likhet med många andra länder har våld i nära relation, sexuellt våld och våld mot barn uppmärksammats mer och mer i Sverige de senaste fem decennierna. I takt med att kunskapen om våld i nära relation har ökat har det också vuxit fram en kritik mot brister inom rättsväsendet, i synnerhet när det gäller att ge skydd och upprättelse till de som utsätts för dessa former av våld. Genom denna utveckling ställs det idag andra krav på de rättsliga aktörerna gällande kunskap och bemötande. Syftet med denna avhandling är att utforska hur relationsvåldsspecialiserade åklagare förhandlar om sina professionella identiteter i relation till de förändrade diskurserna om professionalitet inom rättsväsendet. Studien bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med 32 relationsvåldsspecialiserade åklagare på åtta åklagarkammare runt om i Sverige. Utifrån en narrativ och emotionsteoretisk ansats belyser avhandlingen hur dessa åklagare iscensätter en respektabel professionalitet i relation till möten med målsägande, tilltalade och rättsliga aktörer samt i relation till särskilda arbetsuppgifter, så som att leda förundersökningar, fatta beslut om åtal samt vara part i rätten. Avhandlingen synliggör de normativa motsättningar och spänningar som åklagarna upplever och hanterar i sitt arbete. I sina narrativ rör de sig mellan, och förenar, positioneringar kring objektivitet-engagemang, rationalitet-magkänsla, skepticism-lyhördhet, auktoritet-ödmjukhet, distans-närhet och iscensätter på detta sätt en komplex professionell respektabilitet. En av avhandlingens centrala slutsatser är att den professionella respektabiliteten iscensätts genom en prövande och ambivalent hållning till den auktoritet och makt som arbetet bygger på. Genom berättelser om tvivel och maktlöshet, snarare än genom berättelser om ofelbarhet och autonomi, konstrueras professionalitet som ett lärande, reflexivt projekt. Inom en professionell kontext där känslor kan anses vara särskilt nedtystade, bidrar analysen av åklagarnas tal om emotioner med ett viktigt perspektiv. Analysen visar att tal om känslor tänjer den diskursiva uppdelningen mellan ett professionellt respektive ett privat jag och fungerar som ett narrativt element som både bekräftar och utmanar gränserna för den professionella respektabiliteten. Som helhet, bidrar avhandlingen till det kriminologiska forskningsfältet i de nordiska länderna genom att synliggöra en central rättslig aktör, åklagare, och bidrar till fältet om våld i nära relationer genom att belysa varför strukturer och praktiker som har kritiserats under så lång tid består men också hur de kan förändras. / As in many other countries, intimate partner violence, sexual violence and violence against children have been the focus of an increasing amount of attention in Sweden over the past five decades. As the knowledge on relationship violence has increased, the Swedish criminal justice system (CJS) has faced growing criticism for its failure to protect and provide redress to the victims of these forms of violence. Justice system actors are facing new demands in terms of their levels of knowledge and the quality of the service they provide for those they meet in the context of their work. The aim of the dissertation is to explore how prosecutors who specialise in relationship violence negotiate their professional identities and their normative boundaries in relation to the changing discourses of professionalism within the criminal justice system. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 32 prosecutors specialised in relationship violence, from eight prosecutors’ offices in different parts of Sweden. On the basis of a narrative and emotion theoretical approach, the dissertation explores how these prosecutors accomplish professional respectability in relation to situations where they meet with complainants, defendants and legal actors as well as in relation to specific work tasks, such as the leadership of police investigations, making indictment decisions and presenting the prosecution case in court. The dissertation discusses the normative dilemmas and tensions the prosecutors experience and handle in their work. In their narratives, they both shift between, and manage to reconcile, objectivity-engagement, rationality-gut feeling, scepticism-receptiveness, authority-humility and distance-intimacy, and in doing so perform a complex professional respectability. One of the dissertation’s central conclusions is that professional respectability is performed by maintaining an exploratory and ambivalent attitude towards the power and authority that their work is based on. By means of narratives of doubt and powerlessness, rather than narratives of infallibility and autonomy, professionalism is constructed as a learning, reflexive project. In a professional context in which emotions may be viewed as being particularly suppressed, the analysis of the prosecutors’ speech on emotions constitutes an important perspective. The speech about feelings disrupts the discursive separation between a professional and a private self and often serves to both confirm and challenge the boundaries of professional respectability. Overall, the dissertation contributes to the field of Nordic criminology by raising the visibility of prosecutors as a central legal actor, and to the field of relationship violence by illuminating why structures and practices that have been criticised for such a long time endure, but also how they may be changed.