"Dangerous criminals should be locked up, so that well-behaved people can feel safe in their homes and dare to go outside," says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M).
That is the basic idea when the government now presents a legislative package with a number of measures that increase penalties. According to the government, it is "the largest penal reform" since the Penal Code was introduced in the 1960s.
One of the proposals is that crimes committed in a gang environment should lead to sentences twice as long. It was an election promise from the 2022 election, when the Tidö parties often repeated "Danish punishment for Swedish crimes."
The increased penalties will come into effect on August 1. This means, for example, that a gang member caught with a live weapon risks an eight-year prison sentence, compared to four years today.
Strömmer dismisses criticism
For a gang leader, the penalty could be more than double, and for someone who is being exploited, such as a child or young person, it could be less, according to the government. But the starting point is that doubled penalties also apply to minors.
"If you think about what crime looks like, it would be very backward to, for example, not allow a 16-year-old who murders others to be subject to this increased punishment," says Strömmer.
The legal package also includes tightening some 50 penalty scales, including for violent and sexual crimes, and making repeated aggravated rape punishable by life imprisonment.
The bill was heavily criticized by the Legislative Council, which, among other things, considered it a "hasty act" and rejected it in its entirety. Strömmer opposes that criticism and vouches for its quality.
"I simply disagree with the legal advice on that point," says Strömmer.
The government and the SD are also continuing to tighten penalties in general.
Some of it is about abolishing the current volume discount. Instead, the penalty value for each crime should, as a general rule, be added together. But the overall seriousness of the crime should also be taken into account.
Unclear date
The courts should also place less weight on the offender's personal circumstances, such as old age, poor health or job loss, when determining the sentence.
These proposals are presented in a legislative council referral, and the government's plan is for the Riksdag to vote on them this summer before the elections this autumn.
The government's investigator, National Police Commissioner Petra Lundh, proposed that it come into effect in 2028, but the government has not set a date. The reason is that the Swedish Prison and Probation Service must first have time to expand.
