Penalties for a score of crimes are being toughened. Multiple offenses can lead to life imprisonment in the most serious cases. Courts will take less consideration into mitigating circumstances and will more often sentence harsher penalties.
Some of the proposals are part of a penal reform presented by the government's investigator, National Police Chief Petra Lundh.
This may be the biggest reform since the introduction of the Penal Code in 1965, she says.
The reform is expected to lead to 16,000 more prison years being sentenced per year. This can be compared to 18,700 that were sentenced last year.
For example, the investigation estimates that the sentenced prison times for violent crimes can increase by 50-60 percent.
A prison year corresponds to approximately one prison place, according to the Kriminalvårdens rule of thumb. The reform is expected to cost 16 billion per year.
Life imprisonment
The Minister of Justice states that the government will now lay the groundwork for the reform to be implemented as quickly as possible. The proposed changes to the law are expected to come into effect in 2028.
A proposal with significant impact is that multiple offenses should be assessed more harshly. Prison times are expected to increase by 30-40 percent.
For example, repeated serious rape cases can result in a life sentence, even if life imprisonment is not included in the penalty scale for the individual crime.
However, the investigation does not recommend a variant where the three most serious crimes, each give full punishment.
Another proposal with significant impact is that courts should more often use the entire penalty scale when choosing a sentence.
The upper part of the penalty scale should not only be used in exceptional cases, Lundh says.
Double punishment
Additionally, the courts' starting point should no longer be that prison sentences are only imposed as a last resort. However, a new system with conditional imprisonment is introduced at the same time. This is, according to Lundh, a sharper punishment than today's conditional sentence, and has clearer consequences if a crime is committed during the trial period.
The court will also take less consideration into the perpetrator's personal circumstances when the sentence is determined.
Crimes related to gang crime, as well as shootings and explosions, can result in up to double punishment. A penalty reduction provision according to the Danish model is proposed. However, it is not proposed that the sentence should automatically be doubled.
