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Barnet på video - om förfarandet med barn som vittne i straffprocessen i relation till barnkonventionen

Malmberg, Lovisa LU (2019) LAGF03 20191
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Sedan år 1990 har Förenta Nationernas (FN) konvention om barnets rättigheter, barnkonventionen, varit ett för Sverige internationellt åtagande. I januari 2020 träder barnkonventionen i kraft som lag. Konventionen syftar till att erkänna barnet som enskild individ och barn i grupp som i behov av särskilt skydd. Den grundläggande synen är att barn är rättighetsbärande aktörer och samhällsmedborgare med ett människovärde som är lika stort som hos vuxna. Konventionsstaterna ska beakta detta, bland annat gentemot barn som är vittnen i straffprocess. Barnets bästa (artikel 3) är en princip som genomsyrar hela konventionen, och inga andra artiklar får tillämpas i strid med principen. För att kunna ta reda på vad barnets bästa i det enskilda... (More)
Sedan år 1990 har Förenta Nationernas (FN) konvention om barnets rättigheter, barnkonventionen, varit ett för Sverige internationellt åtagande. I januari 2020 träder barnkonventionen i kraft som lag. Konventionen syftar till att erkänna barnet som enskild individ och barn i grupp som i behov av särskilt skydd. Den grundläggande synen är att barn är rättighetsbärande aktörer och samhällsmedborgare med ett människovärde som är lika stort som hos vuxna. Konventionsstaterna ska beakta detta, bland annat gentemot barn som är vittnen i straffprocess. Barnets bästa (artikel 3) är en princip som genomsyrar hela konventionen, och inga andra artiklar får tillämpas i strid med principen. För att kunna ta reda på vad barnets bästa i det enskilda fallet är krävs att barnets åsikter inhämtas och tas i beaktan (artikel 12).

Barn respektive vuxna som är vittnen ses, i princip, som samma företeelse. Skillnaden är att vissa hänsyn ska tas inför och under förhör med barn, för att i viss mån skydda barnet mot rättsprocessen. Dessutom ska domstolen pröva om barn under 15 år bör höras inför rätten. Det har utarbetats en praxis om att barnets utsaga under förundersökningen spelas in på video, och spelas upp inför rätten. Dessa videoförhör ska enligt HD bedömas med särskild försiktighet, då de innebär ett avvikande från allmänna straffprocessuella principer. En utsaga ska som huvudregel uppges muntligt och direkt inför rätten. Videoförhör avviker från den regeln vilket medför ett lägre bevisvärde på utsagan som framgår i inspelningen. Det kan ifrågasättas om detta är motiverat med hänsyn till ambitionen att i avgörandet träffa det materiellt riktiga.

Frågan har, i förarbeten till barnkonventionen som lag i Sverige, väckts kring vilka åtgärder som behöver vidtas för att arbetet med barn inom rättsväsendet inte ska stå i strid med konventionens artiklar. Åtgärder har konstaterats motiverade bland annat med hänsyn till artikel 12 och artikel 3 i konventionen. (Less)
Abstract
Since 1990, the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child has constituted an international commitment for Sweden. In January 2020, the Convention enters into force as a law. The Convention aims to recognize the child as an individual, and children in groups, as in need of special protection. The main view is that children are rights-bearing actors and community citizens with a human dignity as great as in adults. The ratifying States shall take this into account, inter alia in relation to children as witnesses in criminal proceedings. The best interests of the child (art. 3) is a principle that permeates the entire Convention, no other articles may be applied contrary to it. In order to find out what the child's best... (More)
Since 1990, the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child has constituted an international commitment for Sweden. In January 2020, the Convention enters into force as a law. The Convention aims to recognize the child as an individual, and children in groups, as in need of special protection. The main view is that children are rights-bearing actors and community citizens with a human dignity as great as in adults. The ratifying States shall take this into account, inter alia in relation to children as witnesses in criminal proceedings. The best interests of the child (art. 3) is a principle that permeates the entire Convention, no other articles may be applied contrary to it. In order to find out what the child's best interests are, it is necessary to obtain the child's opinions and take these into account (art. 12).

Children and adults as witnesses are seen as basically the same phenomenon. The difference is that certain considerations must be taken before and during interrogation with children, in order to protect the child to a certain extent against the legal process. In addition, the court should examine whether children under the age of 15 should be questioned before the court. A practice has been drawn up that the child's statement is recorded on video during the preliminary investigation and played before the court. According to the Supreme Court, these recorded interrogations should be assessed with special caution, because of the deviation from general criminal procedure principles. A statement should be given orally and directly before the court, and as recorded interrogations deviate from that rule, this implies a lower probative of the statement. This lower probative is something that could be questioned.

In the preparatory works for the Convention as law in Sweden, the question has been raised about what measures need to be taken to ensure that children in the judicial system are not treated in conflict with the articles of the Convention. Measures seems to be justified, inter alia, with regard to Article 12 and Article 3 of the Convention. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Malmberg, Lovisa LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20191
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Processrätt, straffrätt, folkrätt
language
Swedish
id
8976685
date added to LUP
2019-09-16 10:59:22
date last changed
2019-09-16 10:59:22
@misc{8976685,
  abstract     = {{Since 1990, the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child has constituted an international commitment for Sweden. In January 2020, the Convention enters into force as a law. The Convention aims to recognize the child as an individual, and children in groups, as in need of special protection. The main view is that children are rights-bearing actors and community citizens with a human dignity as great as in adults. The ratifying States shall take this into account, inter alia in relation to children as witnesses in criminal proceedings. The best interests of the child (art. 3) is a principle that permeates the entire Convention, no other articles may be applied contrary to it. In order to find out what the child's best interests are, it is necessary to obtain the child's opinions and take these into account (art. 12).

Children and adults as witnesses are seen as basically the same phenomenon. The difference is that certain considerations must be taken before and during interrogation with children, in order to protect the child to a certain extent against the legal process. In addition, the court should examine whether children under the age of 15 should be questioned before the court. A practice has been drawn up that the child's statement is recorded on video during the preliminary investigation and played before the court. According to the Supreme Court, these recorded interrogations should be assessed with special caution, because of the deviation from general criminal procedure principles. A statement should be given orally and directly before the court, and as recorded interrogations deviate from that rule, this implies a lower probative of the statement. This lower probative is something that could be questioned. 

In the preparatory works for the Convention as law in Sweden, the question has been raised about what measures need to be taken to ensure that children in the judicial system are not treated in conflict with the articles of the Convention. Measures seems to be justified, inter alia, with regard to Article 12 and Article 3 of the Convention.}},
  author       = {{Malmberg, Lovisa}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Barnet på video - om förfarandet med barn som vittne i straffprocessen i relation till barnkonventionen}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}