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En särskilt utsatt situation i rättstillämpningen - hur lagstiftarens skyddssyfte förverkligas i domstolarnas tolkning av begreppet särskilt utsatt situation

Remgård, Anna LU (2014) LAGF03 20141
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the courts interpret the law in accordance with the intentions the legislator had at its creation. I have chosen to work with the amendment made to the article about rape consisting in changing the term “helpless state”(“hjälplöst tillstånd”) to “particularly exposed situation”(“särskilt utsatt situation”). The paper focus on legislative development so as to answer the question of whether the courts attitude towards interpreting the new term differs from the attitude of interpretation of the old, and also why that may be.
What I have found is that there were major flaws in the courts’ application of the term helpless state. Even the legislator pointed out, in the government report for the... (More)
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the courts interpret the law in accordance with the intentions the legislator had at its creation. I have chosen to work with the amendment made to the article about rape consisting in changing the term “helpless state”(“hjälplöst tillstånd”) to “particularly exposed situation”(“särskilt utsatt situation”). The paper focus on legislative development so as to answer the question of whether the courts attitude towards interpreting the new term differs from the attitude of interpretation of the old, and also why that may be.
What I have found is that there were major flaws in the courts’ application of the term helpless state. Even the legislator pointed out, in the government report for the recent amendment, that practice had given the term helpless state a far more limited use than what was initially intended by the legislator. These flaws consisted, amongst other things, in the evaluation of certain solitary factors, such as sleep and intoxication, but also of unwillingness to take the whole picture in to consideration, including external circumstances.
The law was changed in the summer of 2013, when “helpless state” was exchanged for the wider term “particularly exposed situation”. The purpose was to expand the scope but also, in part, to restore the protection intended to exist even before the amendment. According to my examination of the limited amount of judgments related to the new wording of the law, there is still a tendency towards a restrictive way of interpretation. The application of the term in the individual cases does not grant the wide scope that is presented in the legislative history. The courts display reluctance, despite the critique expressed by the legislator, towards allowing a combination of factors and external circumstances to be part of the evaluation of whether a particularly exposed situation is at hand.
In conclusion one can determine that the attitude towards the interpretation of the new term “particularly exposed situation” is heading in a restrictive direction, as was the case with the previous “helpless state”. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om domstolarna tolkar lagen i enlighet med det intention som lagstiftaren haft vid dess skapande. Jag har valt att behandla ändringen av våldtäktsparagrafens begrepp ”hjälplöst tillstånd” till ”särskilt utsatt situation”. Uppsatsen har ett rättsutvecklingsperspektiv för att kunna besvara frågan om rättstillämparens inställning till tolkningen av det nya begreppet har ändrats jämfört med vid tolkningen av det äldre, samt vad det i så fall beror på.
Vad jag funnit i mitt arbete är att det fanns stora brister i rättstillämpningen av begreppet hjälplöst tillstånd. Lagstiftaren själv uppmärksammade, i utredningen till den senare lagändringen, att begreppet i praxis formats mycket snävare än lagstiftarens... (More)
Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om domstolarna tolkar lagen i enlighet med det intention som lagstiftaren haft vid dess skapande. Jag har valt att behandla ändringen av våldtäktsparagrafens begrepp ”hjälplöst tillstånd” till ”särskilt utsatt situation”. Uppsatsen har ett rättsutvecklingsperspektiv för att kunna besvara frågan om rättstillämparens inställning till tolkningen av det nya begreppet har ändrats jämfört med vid tolkningen av det äldre, samt vad det i så fall beror på.
Vad jag funnit i mitt arbete är att det fanns stora brister i rättstillämpningen av begreppet hjälplöst tillstånd. Lagstiftaren själv uppmärksammade, i utredningen till den senare lagändringen, att begreppet i praxis formats mycket snävare än lagstiftarens ursprungliga syfte. Dessa brister bestod bland annat i bedömningen av ett antal enskilda faktorer, exempelvis sömn och berusning, men även en motvillighet att bedöma situationen i sin helhet, inklusive yttre omständigheter.
En lagändring genomfördes sommaren 2013, där begreppet ”hjälplöst tillstånd” byttes ut mot ”särskilt utsatt situation”. Syftet var att bredda tillämpningsområdet, till viss del för att återskapa det skydd som var menat att försäkras redan genom den äldre lydelsen. Enligt min granskning av den begränsade mängd domar som utkommit sedan lagändringen trädde i kraft kan man ana samma begränsande tolkningar som tidigare. Tolkningen av de enskilda fallen ger inte begreppet den vidd som man finner i förarbetenas förklaringar. Domstolarna uppvisar, trots lagstiftarens kritik, en motvillighet att låta yttre omständigheter och kombinerade faktorer ligga till grund för bedömningen om en särskilt utsatt situation föreligger.
Sammanfattningsvis kan man se att inställningen till tolkningen av det nya begreppet särskilt utsatt situation går i en begränsande riktning, precis som tolkningen av hjälplöst tillstånd. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Remgård, Anna LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20141
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
straffrätt, criminal law, särskilt utsatt situation, hjälplöst tillstånd, våldtäkt, tolkning, rättsutveckling
language
Swedish
id
4449505
date added to LUP
2014-06-17 10:17:29
date last changed
2014-06-17 10:17:29
@misc{4449505,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the courts interpret the law in accordance with the intentions the legislator had at its creation. I have chosen to work with the amendment made to the article about rape consisting in changing the term “helpless state”(“hjälplöst tillstånd”) to “particularly exposed situation”(“särskilt utsatt situation”). The paper focus on legislative development so as to answer the question of whether the courts attitude towards interpreting the new term differs from the attitude of interpretation of the old, and also why that may be. 
What I have found is that there were major flaws in the courts’ application of the term helpless state. Even the legislator pointed out, in the government report for the recent amendment, that practice had given the term helpless state a far more limited use than what was initially intended by the legislator. These flaws consisted, amongst other things, in the evaluation of certain solitary factors, such as sleep and intoxication, but also of unwillingness to take the whole picture in to consideration, including external circumstances.
The law was changed in the summer of 2013, when “helpless state” was exchanged for the wider term “particularly exposed situation”. The purpose was to expand the scope but also, in part, to restore the protection intended to exist even before the amendment. According to my examination of the limited amount of judgments related to the new wording of the law, there is still a tendency towards a restrictive way of interpretation. The application of the term in the individual cases does not grant the wide scope that is presented in the legislative history. The courts display reluctance, despite the critique expressed by the legislator, towards allowing a combination of factors and external circumstances to be part of the evaluation of whether a particularly exposed situation is at hand.
In conclusion one can determine that the attitude towards the interpretation of the new term “particularly exposed situation” is heading in a restrictive direction, as was the case with the previous “helpless state”.}},
  author       = {{Remgård, Anna}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{En särskilt utsatt situation i rättstillämpningen - hur lagstiftarens skyddssyfte förverkligas i domstolarnas tolkning av begreppet särskilt utsatt situation}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}