CAT/OP/SWE/1/Add.1
page 3
1.
The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (SPT) has requested the Swedish Government to provide its response
to the recommendations included in the report (CAT/OP/5/SWE/R.1) that followed the SPT’s
visit to Sweden on 10–14 March 2008. The Swedish Government is pleased to provide its
response in the following report. The various sections A, B and C below refer to the respective
sections in part VI, “Summary of recommendations and requests for information” of the SPT
report. Please do not hesitate to contact us for clarifications or request for additional information.
I. RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDED IN SECTION A – NATIONAL PREVENTIVE
MECHANISMS (NPM)
2.
The SPT reported that there will be a need for a profound re-examination of whether the
appointment of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Chancellor of Justice as NPMs is
sufficient and if it is in compliance of the provisions of the OPCAT.
3.
In the Swedish Government’s Bill (2004/05:107) to the Riksdag, in which the approval
of the Riksdag was sought for the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against
Torture, it was also proposed i.a. that the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Chancellor of
Justice be appointed as National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) under the Protocol. The
Riksdag subsequently approved the proposed Bill. In accordance with the Riksdag’s approval the
Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Chancellor of Justice were appointed as NPMs. The
appointment of these two institutions as NPMs was thus approved by the Riksdag. It is foreseen
that the two NPMs will continue to discharge their functions in accordance with this decision of
the Riksdag. It is still the view of the Government that the role and tasks of these two institutions
fit well with the role of the NPMs as laid down in the Optional Protocol. Budgetary issues will
be dealt with within the framework of the future annual budgetary planning processes by the
Riksdag and the Government.
II. RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDED IN SECTION B – POLICE
4.
The information sheet listing the rights of persons deprived of their liberty by the police
was finalised and made available to the police authorities during December 2008 and has been
translated into 40 languages. The National Police Board is currently working on making the
information sheet available in Persian and Kurdish. The English-language version of the
information sheet is attached to this report for reference (Annex).
5.
Furthermore, Sweden would like to present the framework governing the right to public
defence counsel. The basic rule laid down in Chapter 21, Section 1 of the Code of Judicial
Procedure (rättegångsbalken) is that the suspect has a right to conduct his own case. In preparing
and conducting his defence, the suspect may be assisted by a defence counsel (Chapter 21,
Section 3 of the Code of Judicial Procedure). This right is unconditional and applies regardless
of the nature of the alleged offence.
6.
It is laid down in Chapter 23, Section 18 of the Code of Judicial Procedure that when a
preliminary investigation has advanced so far that a person is reasonably suspected of having
committed the offence, he or she shall, when questioned, be notified of this suspicion. Chapter
24, Section 9 of the Code of Judicial Procedure provides that when a person is apprehended or
arrested he or she shall be informed of the offence for which he is suspected and the grounds for
the deprivation of his liberty. Moreover, it follows from Section 12 of the Decree on Preliminary