Sakkunnigbeviset - är kunskap makt? - En rättsfallsstudie av sakkunnigbevisning i mål med sexsomniinvändningar
(2018) JURM02 20182Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- During the last decade a new defense has emerged in rape cases in Sweden; the defendant claims to have carried out the sexual act while sleeping and consequently to have acted without intent. The medical term for performing sexual acts while sleeping is sexsomnia, a subcategory to sleepwalking. In sexsomnia cases it is common to call an expert witness to describe the phenomenon and assess the likeliness of sexsomnia in the present case. The purpose of this thesis is to examine to what extent expert witnesses in sexsomnia cases affect the verdict.
The thesis is centered on the court’s rationale with regards to the expert witness and sexsomnia defense. Four aspects of the rationale were analyzed: the expert witness’ credibility, the... (More) - During the last decade a new defense has emerged in rape cases in Sweden; the defendant claims to have carried out the sexual act while sleeping and consequently to have acted without intent. The medical term for performing sexual acts while sleeping is sexsomnia, a subcategory to sleepwalking. In sexsomnia cases it is common to call an expert witness to describe the phenomenon and assess the likeliness of sexsomnia in the present case. The purpose of this thesis is to examine to what extent expert witnesses in sexsomnia cases affect the verdict.
The thesis is centered on the court’s rationale with regards to the expert witness and sexsomnia defense. Four aspects of the rationale were analyzed: the expert witness’ credibility, the reliability of the experience-based criteria and the expert statement and the expert statement’s influence on the court’s reasoning.
The case study showed that the court’s approach towards expert testimony lacks in both objectivity and impartiality and fails to secure the defendant’s right to equality. The victim’s interest of right to safeness was satisfied to a higher degree since the defendant was found guilty in eleven of the cases. Only five of the remaining verdicts were acquittals due to the courts’ approach to the expert statement and thus relevant to this essay. In all five cases it was clear that the defendant’s right to equality prevailed: the court was reluctant to base a judgement on unclear criteria or play a more active role in the process as that would risk the perception of the court as impartial. However, since the victim’s right to safeness was satisfied in eleven cases compared to continuous neglect of the defendant’s right to equality, the conclusion was that the victim’s right to safeness was satisfied to a higher degree. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Det senaste årtiondet har ett nytt försvar gjort entré i svenska våldtäktsmål; den tilltalade påstås ha utfört den åtalade gärningen sovandes och således utan uppsåt. Inom medicinen benämns utförandet av sexuella handlingar i sömnen sexsomni och är en form av sömngång. I många sexsomnimål åberopas en sakkunnig på ämnet för att berätta hur en bedömning av sexsomni görs och för att bedöma sannolikheten i det specifika fallet. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur mycket makt den sakkunnige får på utgången i målet.
Undersökningen fokuserar på bevisprövningen av sakkunnigbevisning i sexsomnimål. Analysen utgår främst från omständigheter som relaterar till den sakkunniges opartiskhet och kvalificering, de särskilda erfarenhetssatsernas... (More) - Det senaste årtiondet har ett nytt försvar gjort entré i svenska våldtäktsmål; den tilltalade påstås ha utfört den åtalade gärningen sovandes och således utan uppsåt. Inom medicinen benämns utförandet av sexuella handlingar i sömnen sexsomni och är en form av sömngång. I många sexsomnimål åberopas en sakkunnig på ämnet för att berätta hur en bedömning av sexsomni görs och för att bedöma sannolikheten i det specifika fallet. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur mycket makt den sakkunnige får på utgången i målet.
Undersökningen fokuserar på bevisprövningen av sakkunnigbevisning i sexsomnimål. Analysen utgår främst från omständigheter som relaterar till den sakkunniges opartiskhet och kvalificering, de särskilda erfarenhetssatsernas och sakkunnigutlåtandets tillförlitlighet samt domstolens självständighet i förhållande till sakkunnigbevisningen.
Rättsfallsundersökningen visade att domstolens förhållningssätt till sakkunnigbevisningen brast i både saklighet och opartiskhet och således inte uppfyller kraven på rättslikhet för den tilltalade. Målsägandens intresse av rättstrygghet tillgodoseddes dock bättre. I elva av de refererade domarna bifölls åtalet. I övriga domar berodde den friande domen i fem fall på domstolens förhållningssätt till sakkunnigbevisningen varför de var relevanta för den fortsatta analysen. I de sistnämnda domarna var det tydligt att domstolen inte ville bygga en fällande dom på oklarheter eller vidta åtgärder som visserligen hade kunnat klargöra fakta, men riskerat bilden av domstolen som opartisk. I dessa fall fick den tilltalades rättslikhet företräde. Eftersom målsägandens rättstrygghet tillgodoseddes i elva mål och den tilltalades rättslikhet konsekvent negligerades, tillfredsställdes målsägandens rättstrygghet i högre utsträckning. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8965460
- author
- Danielsson, Elin LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Expert witnesses - is knowledge power? - A case study of expert witnesses in cases with sexomnia objections
- course
- JURM02 20182
- year
- 2018
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Straffrätt, straffprocessrätt, sakkunnigbevisning, sexsomni
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8965460
- date added to LUP
- 2019-01-28 11:36:11
- date last changed
- 2019-01-28 11:36:11
@misc{8965460,
abstract = {{During the last decade a new defense has emerged in rape cases in Sweden; the defendant claims to have carried out the sexual act while sleeping and consequently to have acted without intent. The medical term for performing sexual acts while sleeping is sexsomnia, a subcategory to sleepwalking. In sexsomnia cases it is common to call an expert witness to describe the phenomenon and assess the likeliness of sexsomnia in the present case. The purpose of this thesis is to examine to what extent expert witnesses in sexsomnia cases affect the verdict.
The thesis is centered on the court’s rationale with regards to the expert witness and sexsomnia defense. Four aspects of the rationale were analyzed: the expert witness’ credibility, the reliability of the experience-based criteria and the expert statement and the expert statement’s influence on the court’s reasoning.
The case study showed that the court’s approach towards expert testimony lacks in both objectivity and impartiality and fails to secure the defendant’s right to equality. The victim’s interest of right to safeness was satisfied to a higher degree since the defendant was found guilty in eleven of the cases. Only five of the remaining verdicts were acquittals due to the courts’ approach to the expert statement and thus relevant to this essay. In all five cases it was clear that the defendant’s right to equality prevailed: the court was reluctant to base a judgement on unclear criteria or play a more active role in the process as that would risk the perception of the court as impartial. However, since the victim’s right to safeness was satisfied in eleven cases compared to continuous neglect of the defendant’s right to equality, the conclusion was that the victim’s right to safeness was satisfied to a higher degree.}},
author = {{Danielsson, Elin}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Sakkunnigbeviset - är kunskap makt? - En rättsfallsstudie av sakkunnigbevisning i mål med sexsomniinvändningar}},
year = {{2018}},
}