The government wants to expand the judicial system's ability to investigate crimes committed by young people under the age of 18.
The bill includes, among other things, allowing more coercive measures to be used against children. It is also proposed that the time limit for detaining children be extended from three to five months.
The Law Council, the expert group of lawyers that reviews the government's legislative proposals, is not lenient in its criticism on this point.
"The Law Council's conclusion is that such an extension cannot be considered compatible with the Convention on the Rights of the Child's requirement that children may only be deprived of their liberty for the shortest appropriate period of time," it writes in its statement.
The government refers to the fact that longer detention periods are needed to be able to investigate complex, serious crimes. However, the proposal cannot be assumed to fulfill the purpose of allowing serious crimes to be investigated more effectively, according to the Law Council.
"The Law Council rejects the proposed provision," it writes.
At the same time, the government wants to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 years, from the current 15 years, for certain serious crimes. This means that the extended detention period will also apply to them.
But when the government sent the proposal for consultation, this was not taken into account.
The preparation requirement according to the Instrument of Government, one of Sweden's basic laws, is thus not met, according to the Law Council, which also opposes the implementation of the proposal for that reason.
