This thesis examines the Swedish criminal procedure for children under 15 years old. It studies the procedure both in relation to the statutory purposes and relative to United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which, as of January 1st 2020, is incorporated into Swedish law. Methodologically, I have approached the material and writing process using legal dogmatics, a method that acknowledges statutory law, preparatory works, precedents and legal doctrine as the primary legal sources. The main objects of the thesis are the investigative procedure stated in 31 § LUL and the trial procedure stated in 38 § LUL. The criminal procedure for children is regulated seperately from the criminal procedure for adults, and thereby aims to protect the suspected child and to provide certain legal safegu- ards that surround the procedure. The importance of the legal safeguards is paramount due to the incorporation of the CRC. In addition, the thesis ana- lyzes different aspects with the Swedish governments proposed review of the statutory provisions. I conclude that the Swedish criminal procedure for children does not fully har- monize with the CRC and its demands for a child-friendly legal process. For example, the main purpose behind the Swedish criminal procedure for children under 15 years old is to ensure that social services has a good enough basis in order to decide on adequate support measures for the suspected child. Also, the procedure should be used as rarely as possible since the children who are subject to the procedure have not yet reached the age for criminal responsibi- lity. Despite the above, a study of the statutory provitions and its preparatory works has shown that the procedure through reforms have become more pe- nalty oriented and that criminal justice measures against children are used more commonly. The result implies that the main purpose behind the legislation no longer seems to be solely for the best for the child and its need for support through social services. I identify a legal development where purposes other than what’s best for the suspected child have become increasingly important. Furthermore, the Swedish criminal procedure for children includes a number of ambiguities that make the provitions difficult to apply in practice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-204209 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Amanda, Lublin |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Juridiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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