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Från horsbrott till privatsak - Om otrohetens historiska och framtida plats i svensk rätt

Nydahl, Mika LU (2025) LAGF03 20251
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Infidelity has historically been a very severe crime in Sweden but the legal implications of the act has drastically changed and it is now only symbolically regulated. The purpose of the essay is to analyse the decriminalization grounds of fornication from 1937 and to investigate whether there are reasons to change today’s regulations. To achieve the purpose of the essay, different aspects of the legal dogmatic method has been used to present applicable law, critically examine the legislative history and investigate the law lex ferenda.

In the essay, the decriminalization grounds are presented and a government inquiry (SOU) with its following government bill from the 80th century which changed large parts of matrimonial law, is also... (More)
Infidelity has historically been a very severe crime in Sweden but the legal implications of the act has drastically changed and it is now only symbolically regulated. The purpose of the essay is to analyse the decriminalization grounds of fornication from 1937 and to investigate whether there are reasons to change today’s regulations. To achieve the purpose of the essay, different aspects of the legal dogmatic method has been used to present applicable law, critically examine the legislative history and investigate the law lex ferenda.

In the essay, the decriminalization grounds are presented and a government inquiry (SOU) with its following government bill from the 80th century which changed large parts of matrimonial law, is also highlighted. The inquiry also gave vast expositions of the state’s view on marriage and fidelity, which in short was that fidelity was considered to be an ethical standpoint that the state did not want to force upon married couples. This is something that, for example, Anders Agell has been critical of, an opinion that is presented in the essay.

Criminal law has a purpose of general prevention and is an important method for social control, but the ultima ratio principle prevents to frequent of a use of the criminal law. Criminal law should instead be used at last hand, which was of importance at the moment of decriminalization. The importance of a sufficiently important protected interest is also mentioned as one of the prerequisites for criminalization.

The conclusion of the essay is that the decriminalization of the fornication was not done in a way that is coherent to our view of criminal law today, where several arguments are critically questioned in the essay. As to future legislation, there are reasons to legislate on the subject since marriage still is seen as an interest worth protecting in the legal system, especially when one of the spouses lives with a child. The ultima ratio principle prevents new criminalization but since infidelity can have a negative impact on the marriage and the stability of the family, new legislation can be an alternative to protect these legally protected interests. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Otrohet har historiskt varit ett mycket allvarligt brott i Sverige men gärningens rättsliga betydelse har förändrats drastiskt och är idag enbart reglerat genom en symbolisk bestämmelse. Uppsatsen syftar till att analysera grunderna för avkriminaliseringen av horsbrottet från 1937 och att utreda om det finns skäl att ändra lagstiftningen idag. För att uppnå syftet används olika aspekter av den rättsdogmatiska metoden för att presentera gällande rätt, kritiskt granska förarbeten och utreda rätten de lege ferenda.

I uppsatsen presenteras de grunder som angavs i samband med avkriminaliseringen, men stort fokus läggs också på en statlig utredning med efter-följande proposition från 1970-talet som förändrade stora delar av äktenskapsrätten.... (More)
Otrohet har historiskt varit ett mycket allvarligt brott i Sverige men gärningens rättsliga betydelse har förändrats drastiskt och är idag enbart reglerat genom en symbolisk bestämmelse. Uppsatsen syftar till att analysera grunderna för avkriminaliseringen av horsbrottet från 1937 och att utreda om det finns skäl att ändra lagstiftningen idag. För att uppnå syftet används olika aspekter av den rättsdogmatiska metoden för att presentera gällande rätt, kritiskt granska förarbeten och utreda rätten de lege ferenda.

I uppsatsen presenteras de grunder som angavs i samband med avkriminaliseringen, men stort fokus läggs också på en statlig utredning med efter-följande proposition från 1970-talet som förändrade stora delar av äktenskapsrätten. Dessutom gav utredningen utförliga utläggningar om den syn på äktenskapet och trohet som staten hade, vilket sammanfattningsvis handlade om att trohet sågs som ett etiskt ställningstagande som staten inte ville tvinga på gifta par. Delar av utredningen har exempelvis Anders Agell ställt sig kritisk till, en kritik som uppsatsen redovisar.

Straffrätten har ett allmänpreventivt syfte idag och är en viktig metod för social kontroll, men ultima ratio-principen förhindrar för bred användning av straffrätten. Istället ska strafflagstiftning användas i sista hand, något som fick betydelse vid avkriminaliseringen. Dessutom nämns exempelvis vikten av ett tillräckligt skyddsvärt intresse som en av förutsättningarna för kriminalisering.

Slutsatsen är att avkriminaliseringen av horsbrottet inte gjordes på ett sätt som är koherent med vår syn på straffrätten idag, där flera argument i uppsatsen ifrågasätts kritiskt. Gällande framtida lagstiftning så finns skäl att lagstifta på området eftersom äktenskapet i rättsordningen fortfarande ses som skyddsvärt, särskilt då någon av makarna bor med barn. Ultima ratio-principen förhindrar ny kriminalisering, men eftersom otrohet kan vara mycket skadligt för äktenskapet och familjestabiliteten kan ny lagstiftning vara ett alternativ för att värna om dessa skyddsvärda intressen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nydahl, Mika LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
straffrätt, familjerätt, rättshistoria, äktenskap, kriminalisering, horsbrottet, otrohet
language
Swedish
id
9190830
date added to LUP
2025-06-23 13:19:35
date last changed
2025-06-23 13:19:35
@misc{9190830,
  abstract     = {{Infidelity has historically been a very severe crime in Sweden but the legal implications of the act has drastically changed and it is now only symbolically regulated. The purpose of the essay is to analyse the decriminalization grounds of fornication from 1937 and to investigate whether there are reasons to change today’s regulations. To achieve the purpose of the essay, different aspects of the legal dogmatic method has been used to present applicable law, critically examine the legislative history and investigate the law lex ferenda.

In the essay, the decriminalization grounds are presented and a government inquiry (SOU) with its following government bill from the 80th century which changed large parts of matrimonial law, is also highlighted. The inquiry also gave vast expositions of the state’s view on marriage and fidelity, which in short was that fidelity was considered to be an ethical standpoint that the state did not want to force upon married couples. This is something that, for example, Anders Agell has been critical of, an opinion that is presented in the essay.

Criminal law has a purpose of general prevention and is an important method for social control, but the ultima ratio principle prevents to frequent of a use of the criminal law. Criminal law should instead be used at last hand, which was of importance at the moment of decriminalization. The importance of a sufficiently important protected interest is also mentioned as one of the prerequisites for criminalization.

The conclusion of the essay is that the decriminalization of the fornication was not done in a way that is coherent to our view of criminal law today, where several arguments are critically questioned in the essay. As to future legislation, there are reasons to legislate on the subject since marriage still is seen as an interest worth protecting in the legal system, especially when one of the spouses lives with a child. The ultima ratio principle prevents new criminalization but since infidelity can have a negative impact on the marriage and the stability of the family, new legislation can be an alternative to protect these legally protected interests.}},
  author       = {{Nydahl, Mika}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Från horsbrott till privatsak - Om otrohetens historiska och framtida plats i svensk rätt}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}