The added value in introducing anonymous witnesses “appears to be very limited” and “the proposal may lead to the courts receiving poorer basis for judging the case”, writes the Law Council in its statement.
“The limited usefulness of the proposal, seen in the light of the strong principled concerns it gives rise to, leads the Legislative Council to the conclusion that the proposal should not be implemented,” the council writes further.
If the government – which went ahead with its Legislative Council referral despite strong criticism from, among others, the Judicial Ombudsman and the Courts Agency – chooses to proceed with the bill, the Legislative Council proposes several changes to the wording.
Introducing anonymous witnesses was one of the promises in the Tidö Agreement between the governing parties (the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals) and the Sweden Democrats.