The government wants to remove the statute of limitations for all crimes with a life sentence on the penalty scale. More cold cases should be solved and convicted criminals should not be able to wait out their sentences.
But the proposal is criticized for countering precisely the clarification.
– The light bulb that has existed for the police and prosecutors to investigate the crimes within the statute of limitations expires, it disappears, says Kristofer Stahre, criminal lawyer.
The proposal is that whoever is sentenced to prison – regardless of how long the sentence is – should not be able to stay away and wait out their sentence. Imprisoned prison sentences shall never be time-barred. This also applies to sentences with life imprisonment on the penalty scale. The disappearance of the statute of limitations, Kristofer Stahre believes, will lead to investigations being shelved.
– Now the investigations will never be finished and crime victims and suspects will not get an end, he says.
Extended statute of limitations for serious crimes
Serious crimes such as rape, serious assault and weapons offenses will have a longer statute of limitations according to the bill. Aiding and abetting the crimes is also covered. Crimes that are currently statute-barred after ten years shall instead be statute-barred at 15. The statute of limitations of 15 years is moved forward to 25.
The proposals for abolished and extended statute of limitations are welcomed by those who work with crime victims.
– From a crime victim’s perspective and a relative’s perspective, it is of course positive that it is not possible to stay away until the statute of limitations has started, says Magnus Lindgren, former police officer and now general secretary of the Tryggare Sweden foundation.
The government believes more unsolved crimes can be solved
The government believes that the proposed legislation will lead to more crimes being solved.
It was the previous S-led government that started the investigation that the Tidö parties are now moving forward with. The government believes, contrary to the criticism that more criminal investigations end up in a pile, that more unsolved crimes can be solved with the help of new technology.
For the police, this means that in more cases than today, they will be able to get the full impact of new effective tools and forensic tools, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M).
The legislative proposals are presented in a legislative council referral and are proposed to enter into force on the first of April next year.