In 2022, there were more than six times as many fatal shootings in Sweden compared to the neighboring Nordic countries. 62 people were shot to death and approximately 30,000 people can be linked to the criminal networks, according to the Police Authority.
The government and the Sweden Democrats are therefore now reviewing the criminal law in a comprehensive investigation. The aim is that the punishment should be tougher, more people should be detained and more people should be sentenced to prison.
– It is about an overhaul of the entire criminal law. A couple of the areas that are particularly highlighted in the directives where there are reasons for a stricter assessment are violence and sexual abuse against women and children and crimes against freedom and peace, says Gunnar Strömmer.
Criminal law must be reviewed
Now Sweden’s Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) is being presented with how this is to be done and presents the decision to give the Attorney General Petra Lundh the task of leading a review of the criminal law.
– The reality that we now live in and that has developed for a long time since the criminal law was reformed in the past justifies a shift in perspective from the perpetrator to the victim of crime and society’s need for protection against serious crime.
Today’s criminal justice system is largely rooted in the 1960s and 1980s. The recasting is done, among other things, to put an end to gang crime, but it also has a broader purpose.
– The starting point in criminal law is to focus on the perpetrator, says Gunnar Strömmer.
Enhanced penalties to protect society
The Tidö parties want the focus to shift from the perpetrator to a focus on crime victims and community protection.
– This is a crime that threatens witnesses and threatens witnesses. And behaves threateningly towards prosecutors and judges and infiltrates political parties. It is therefore a system-threatening crime that has an effect on the entire society, says Gunnar Strömmer.
In concrete terms, Petra Lundh will, among other things, investigate a tightening of the punishment scales, double punishment for gang criminals, abolition of the quantity discount and that less consideration should be given to the convicted person’s personal circumstances.
– The investigator will get two years. But some issues at a faster pace, those are those that target serious crime and networks, says Gunnar Strömmer and continues:
– In fast track, we should be able to target a sore point in the activities of the criminal networks.
Increase the penalty
At the press conference, it was emphasized that the penalty scales in general must better reflect the seriousness of the crimes. With a special focus on violent and sexual crimes, crimes that are common in criminal circles and crimes that threaten the foundations of the rule of law and society. The comprehensive intervention must also have been requested by referral bodies and the Legislative Council.
– The function of the penalty has a practical meaning. What we want to achieve with punishment can create misunderstandings that must be cleared up. The punishment should deter us all from engaging in crime and on an individual level prevent a single perpetrator, says Gunnar Strömmer.
– Regardless of whether it affects the perpetrator to commit a new crime or not. When a person is locked up they cannot commit new crimes and it prevents other serious crime. As a tool to protect society.
Double punishment for gang criminals and reduced volume discount
– Crimes committed by a criminal network should lead to a punishment that is twice as high as crimes that take place in other contexts, says Gunnar Strömmer and continues:
– We think it is important to take a further step that reduces the quantity discount and harsher punishments for those who commit many crimes. And longer incarceration of those who commit serious and more crimes.
There must also be changed rules for choosing a penalty. If the offense is sufficiently serious, the penalty shall be imprisonment.