Precision och försvar - Om kraven på gärningsbeskrivningens precision enligt Rättegångsbalken och Europakonventionen
(2016) LAGF03 20161Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- I svensk rätt finns bestämmelser som berör gärningsbeskrivningen i 30:3 RB och 45:4 RB. Det första lagrummet stadgar att gärningsbeskrivningen utgör ramen för domstolens prövning. Det andra lagrummet stadgar vilket innehåll en gärningsbeskrivning ska ha. Frågan hur preciserad den information som ges i gärningsbeskrivning ska vara har länge varit omdiskuterad.
Kraven på gärningsbeskrivningens precision är nära sammankopplade till den tilltalades möjligheter att bedöma vad vederbörande anklagas för och hur försvaret ska läggas upp. Av rätten till rättvis rättegång i artikel 6 EKMR följer vissa rättssäkerhetsgarantier som möjliggör för den tilltalade att ta tillvara sina intressen i detta avseende. I artikel 6.3 (a) anges att den tilltalade... (More) - I svensk rätt finns bestämmelser som berör gärningsbeskrivningen i 30:3 RB och 45:4 RB. Det första lagrummet stadgar att gärningsbeskrivningen utgör ramen för domstolens prövning. Det andra lagrummet stadgar vilket innehåll en gärningsbeskrivning ska ha. Frågan hur preciserad den information som ges i gärningsbeskrivning ska vara har länge varit omdiskuterad.
Kraven på gärningsbeskrivningens precision är nära sammankopplade till den tilltalades möjligheter att bedöma vad vederbörande anklagas för och hur försvaret ska läggas upp. Av rätten till rättvis rättegång i artikel 6 EKMR följer vissa rättssäkerhetsgarantier som möjliggör för den tilltalade att ta tillvara sina intressen i detta avseende. I artikel 6.3 (a) anges att den tilltalade har rätt att bli underrättad utan dröjsmål och i detalj om grunden och innebörden av anklagelsen. I artikel 6.3 (b) anges att den tilltalade också ska ges tid och möjlighet att förbereda sitt försvar.
Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka problem med hur kraven på gärningsbeskrivningens precision ställts upp i RB och HD:s praxis. Det som närmare undersöks är kraven på åklagaren att enligt 45:4 RB ange dels tid och plats och dels omständigheter som kännetecknar den brottsliga gärningen. Vad HD kommit fram till genom praxis måste på grund av EKMR:s ställning i svensk rätt jämföras med artikel 6 EKMR och tillhörande praxis från Europadomstolen. Europadomstolens krav på brottsanklagelsen genom tolkning av artikel 6 EKMR är i sin generella form mer långtgående än de krav som följer av HD:s praxis. Det råder dock delade meningar i doktrin om EKMR:s krav på preciserad brottsanklagelse verkligen avser just gärningsbeskrivningen i svensk rätt.
En annan fråga som behandlas i uppsatsen är den om vilka åtgärder en domstol bör vidta när det föreligger brister gärningsbeskrivningens precision. Ett sätt att komma till rätta med problemet är genom domstolens materiella processledning enligt 46:4 2st RB. Om domstolen trots försök inte lyckas få åklagaren att precisera gärningsbeskrivningen synes den rådande uppfattningen i svensk doktrin vara att domstolen bör ogilla åtalet.
Slutsatserna som dras i uppsatsen är att de krav som ställs på gärningsbeskrivningens precision i svensk rätt inte är förenliga med rätten till rättvis rättegång i artikel 6 EKMR. Ett led i att komma till rätta med problemen som vaga gärningsbeskrivningar innebär är att tingsrätterna engagerar sig mer i gärningsbeskrivningens precision. (Less) - Abstract
- In Swedish law, the provisions regarding the indictment are found in 30:3 RB and 45:4 RB. The first provision states that the indictment serves as a foundation of the court´s trial. The second provision establishes what specific information the indictment should contain. The question of how accurate the information provided in the indictment must be has long been up for discussion.
The requirements placed upon the indictment and its precision are closely connected to the defendant’s capability to assess what he or she is accused of and to prepare the legal defence. In this regard, the right to a fair trial established in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is invaluable to the defendant due to the rights which it... (More) - In Swedish law, the provisions regarding the indictment are found in 30:3 RB and 45:4 RB. The first provision states that the indictment serves as a foundation of the court´s trial. The second provision establishes what specific information the indictment should contain. The question of how accurate the information provided in the indictment must be has long been up for discussion.
The requirements placed upon the indictment and its precision are closely connected to the defendant’s capability to assess what he or she is accused of and to prepare the legal defence. In this regard, the right to a fair trial established in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is invaluable to the defendant due to the rights which it provides. Accordingly, Article 6.3 (a) decrees that the defandant has a right to be informed promptly and in detail of the nature and cause of the accusation against him or her. Additionally, Article 6.3 (b) provides that the defendant should have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his or her defence.
The purpose of this thesis is to explore problems with the requirements that have been placed upon the indictment and its necessary precision as determined by RB and the Swedish Supreme Court. More specifically, the requirements for the prosecutor to state a time and place for the accused crime and the circumstances necessary to identify the criminal act will be analyzed for potential complications. The practice of the Swedish Supreme Court must – due to Sweden’s obligations according to the European Convention on Human Rights – be compared to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. In general, the European Court of Human Rights sets more demanding requirements on the accuracy of the accusation compared to the existing practice of the Swedish Supreme Court. There are – however – differing opinions in the Swedish doctrine about whether the practice of the European Court of Human Rights transfers to the indictment as it is established in Swedish law.
Another issue that is being assessed in this thesis is what measures the court should take should the indictment not be precise enough. One way to address this problem is through the court’s direction of proceedings as the provisions in 46:4 2nd RB decree. However, if the court fails to get the prosecutor to correct the indictment in this respect, the dominant opinion in Swedish doctrine is that the court should dismiss the charge on these merits.
The conclusion of this thesis is that the requirements upon the indictment and its precision in Swedish law are incompatible with the right to a fair trial according to Article 6 in the European Convention on Human Rights. To evade the problems inherent to vague accusations, there should be an increase in the district court’s activity to ensure that the requirements upon the indictment and its precision are met. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8874222
- author
- Magnusson, Hans LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- straffrätt, processrätt, gärningsbeskrivning
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8874222
- date added to LUP
- 2016-07-04 09:32:27
- date last changed
- 2016-07-04 09:32:27
@misc{8874222,
abstract = {{In Swedish law, the provisions regarding the indictment are found in 30:3 RB and 45:4 RB. The first provision states that the indictment serves as a foundation of the court´s trial. The second provision establishes what specific information the indictment should contain. The question of how accurate the information provided in the indictment must be has long been up for discussion.
The requirements placed upon the indictment and its precision are closely connected to the defendant’s capability to assess what he or she is accused of and to prepare the legal defence. In this regard, the right to a fair trial established in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is invaluable to the defendant due to the rights which it provides. Accordingly, Article 6.3 (a) decrees that the defandant has a right to be informed promptly and in detail of the nature and cause of the accusation against him or her. Additionally, Article 6.3 (b) provides that the defendant should have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his or her defence.
The purpose of this thesis is to explore problems with the requirements that have been placed upon the indictment and its necessary precision as determined by RB and the Swedish Supreme Court. More specifically, the requirements for the prosecutor to state a time and place for the accused crime and the circumstances necessary to identify the criminal act will be analyzed for potential complications. The practice of the Swedish Supreme Court must – due to Sweden’s obligations according to the European Convention on Human Rights – be compared to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. In general, the European Court of Human Rights sets more demanding requirements on the accuracy of the accusation compared to the existing practice of the Swedish Supreme Court. There are – however – differing opinions in the Swedish doctrine about whether the practice of the European Court of Human Rights transfers to the indictment as it is established in Swedish law.
Another issue that is being assessed in this thesis is what measures the court should take should the indictment not be precise enough. One way to address this problem is through the court’s direction of proceedings as the provisions in 46:4 2nd RB decree. However, if the court fails to get the prosecutor to correct the indictment in this respect, the dominant opinion in Swedish doctrine is that the court should dismiss the charge on these merits.
The conclusion of this thesis is that the requirements upon the indictment and its precision in Swedish law are incompatible with the right to a fair trial according to Article 6 in the European Convention on Human Rights. To evade the problems inherent to vague accusations, there should be an increase in the district court’s activity to ensure that the requirements upon the indictment and its precision are met.}},
author = {{Magnusson, Hans}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Precision och försvar - Om kraven på gärningsbeskrivningens precision enligt Rättegångsbalken och Europakonventionen}},
year = {{2016}},
}