The new penalty of preventive detention came into effect on April 15 and means that repeat offenders of, for example, violent and sexual crimes can be sentenced to imprisonment for an indefinite period if the crime would have carried a sentence of at least four years.
The law is intended to target people who have not committed crimes that can result in life imprisonment, but who are still considered so dangerous that they "should not be released," as Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) previously put it.
The so-called Nytorgsmannen, who was sentenced to prison for a large number of rapes and then committed new assaults while on parole, has been cited as an example of why the law is needed.
Risk of relapse crucial
The courts will usually obtain opinions from the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine (RMV) on the risk of relapse before sentencing someone to preventive detention. The RMV will also give its opinion in the assessment of whether the person should later be released.
"We will determine whether there is a serious risk of recidivism in crimes against life and health, corresponding to what the person was previously convicted of. We will grade the risk as low, medium or high," says Jesper Svedberg, head of department at the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine's Department of Forensic Psychiatry.
In many ways, this is similar to the work that RMV already does when people serving life sentences want their sentences commuted. Here too, their assessment of the risk of recidivism is crucial to the court's decision.
Jesper Svedberg says that a comprehensive picture is gathered through a range of different expertise, including psychologists, social workers and doctors.
"Actuarial assessments are collected, i.e. documents and history, but the person will also be met and interviewed, and a number of risk assessment instruments will be used. Partial reports are then made and compiled into a statement with a balanced assessment of the entire package,"
Risk reduction
In theory, there could be people who are never released, he says.
"But we can see that it will also be about working with existing protective and risk-reduction measures - even in the most difficult cases,"
How difficult is it to assess the risk of a person committing new crimes in the future?
"It's difficult, and it's just an assessment. It's not a certain prediction,"
Anyone who commits a crime that involves "an attack on the life, health, freedom or peace of another" can be sentenced to preventive detention if:
1. the crime constitutes a recurrence of a similar crime that would have led to at least four years of imprisonment
2. or if the person is convicted on the same occasion of a repeated crime of the type where the penalty corresponds to at least six years' imprisonment.
If there are grounds to sentence a person to life imprisonment or forensic psychiatric care, preventive detention is out of the question.
The court shall always impose a minimum term of imprisonment that would otherwise have been imposed, and a maximum term of four to six years longer than the minimum term. The maximum term may be extended by up to three years at a time if it is deemed absolutely necessary to prevent a relapse into serious crime.
Source: Government
