The government has now completed a bill that gives police and prosecutors better opportunities to investigate crimes that young people under the age of 18 are suspected of.
However, the government is backing away from a proposal to change the main rule so that young people under the age of 18 could be detained for up to five months. The current limit is three months.
An increase in the maximum term was considered necessary because increasingly younger people are committing serious violent crimes that take time to investigate.
Violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
However, the Legal Affairs Council pointed out that the proposal is not compatible with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and that there is a risk that the pressure for quick and effective investigations will decrease if the main rule is extended to five months.
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) says:
We have been impressed by the Legal Affairs Council's views.
We think we can forgo that change in light of the fact that we are also doing many things to make things more efficient for the police and prosecutors, so that they conduct good and effective investigations.
In addition, it is already possible today to detain a minor if there are exceptional reasons.
Demanding environment
Strömmer points out that prison is a demanding place, especially for young people.
These detention periods came about because Sweden has been criticized for long periods of detention for young people, and the government fully supports those concerns.
The bill that is now being presented, however, proposes that children under the age of 15 could be strip-searched and have their homes searched for stolen property and drugs in more cases than currently.
Biometric data, such as fingerprints, could be taken from children in more cases. It is also proposed that the police be allowed to detain a group of young people for identification purposes.
