The government wants to be able to lock up people who repeat sex crimes for life.
But legal expert Ulrika Rogland is skeptical.
– It feels like something you just throw out to make the public feel calmer, she says.
Yesterday, Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) stated that the government has opened the way for repeated sexual offenses to be punishable by life imprisonment.
– We are investigating it now, he said then.
But according to the lawyer and former prosecutor Ulrika Rogland, it is highly unlikely that such a bill could pass.
– It feels like it goes against everything we have in our laws, she says.
“Are there other things”
Above all, she points out that life imprisonment is not on the punishment scale for sexual offences.
– And there is no other crime where recidivism can result in more than the maximum penalty. It is clear that it is easy to say that, for example, serious crimes against children should result in harsh punishments. But I have a hard time seeing what would qualify it for life.
One of the government’s arguments for the bill is that if a convicted sex offender reoffends, it shows that the person is too dangerous to go free.
But according to Ulrika Rogland, there are other measures to be taken.
– It is clear that the victim never feels that the punishment scale is severe enough. But there are other things, like parole, where you can think about whether it should stay. And there are other factors to work with, she says.
Contrary to legal principles
A big problem today is that many vulnerable people do not get the help they need, Rogland believes.
– Society can do so much preventive work and it must be invested in, instead of locking people up for life where society has failed.
In addition, Sweden’s legal principle is that a person who has served his crime should be considered free. Ulrika Rogland therefore has difficulty seeing what would make a proposal like the government’s possible to implement, where previous crimes must be weighed into a new punishment.
– I find it very difficult to see the legal council giving the okay to this. But at the same time, there is so much strange happening in Sweden right now, so it can never be ruled out.