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Tillräknelighet & brottsbalken - om tillräknelighetslärans avskaffande i svensk rätt

Ydén, Hanna LU (2020) LAGF03 20201
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
I samband med brottsbalkens ikraftträdande år 1965 togs uppdelningen mellan otillräkneliga och tillräkneliga lagöverträdare bort från svensk rätt. Reformen innebar att även personer med allvarliga psykiska störningar kunde anses vara straffrättsligt ansvariga för sina handlingar och bli föremål för rättsskipningens påföljdssystem. Sedan tillräknelighetsläran togs bort har det förts en kontinuerlig diskussion kring huruvida den eventuellt bör återinföras. Frågan har behandlats av flera statliga utredningar och är ofta föremål för debatt. En återgång till ett tillräknelighetskrav har dock inte skett.

Denna uppsats har som syfte att utreda vilka argument lagstiftaren framförde som stöd för valet att avskaffa tillräknelighetsbestämmelserna... (More)
I samband med brottsbalkens ikraftträdande år 1965 togs uppdelningen mellan otillräkneliga och tillräkneliga lagöverträdare bort från svensk rätt. Reformen innebar att även personer med allvarliga psykiska störningar kunde anses vara straffrättsligt ansvariga för sina handlingar och bli föremål för rättsskipningens påföljdssystem. Sedan tillräknelighetsläran togs bort har det förts en kontinuerlig diskussion kring huruvida den eventuellt bör återinföras. Frågan har behandlats av flera statliga utredningar och är ofta föremål för debatt. En återgång till ett tillräknelighetskrav har dock inte skett.

Denna uppsats har som syfte att utreda vilka argument lagstiftaren framförde som stöd för valet att avskaffa tillräknelighetsbestämmelserna år 1965 samt vad dessa argument grundade sig i. Därutöver behandlar uppsatsen även huruvida de argument som framfördes vid brottsbalkens beredning kan anses vara hållbara och relevanta även i dagens diskussion. Undersökningen har visat att reformen till stor del tog sin utgångspunkt i tanken att straff skulle ersättas med vård i största möjliga utsträckning och att samhället skulle skyddas mot brottslighet men att detta inte nödvändigtvis behövde ske genom straff. De ideologiska motsättningarna mellan å ena sidan den klassiska straffrättsskolan och å andra sidan den positiva straffrättsskolan påverkade utvecklingen av dessa tankegångar.

De argument som framfördes till stöd för tillräknelighetslärans avskaffande kan tillämpas även i dagens diskussion. Dock är argumentens hållbarhet beroende av vad som anses vara brottslighetens orsaker och straffets ändamål. Dagens syn på tillräknelighetläran kommer därför påverka argumentens hållbarhet idag. Därutöver har samhällsförhållandena och straffsystemet förändrats märkbart sedan 1965. Av detta följer att det kan vara svårt att hävda att argumenten har hög hållbarhet i dagens diskussion. (Less)
Abstract
In most legal systems around the world, mentally disturbed offenders are exempt from criminal responsibility and therefore go unpunished. When The Swedish Penal Code was introduced in 1965 this exemption was removed from Swedish law. From this point forward, mentally disturbed offenders have been held accountable for their actions and the mental disorder is instead considered when deciding the appropriate criminal sanction. Ever since the exemption was removed, it has been discussed whether it should be reinstated. The issue has been the subject of several reviews performed by the government, but the exemption has not been reintroduced.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what arguments the legislator made in support of... (More)
In most legal systems around the world, mentally disturbed offenders are exempt from criminal responsibility and therefore go unpunished. When The Swedish Penal Code was introduced in 1965 this exemption was removed from Swedish law. From this point forward, mentally disturbed offenders have been held accountable for their actions and the mental disorder is instead considered when deciding the appropriate criminal sanction. Ever since the exemption was removed, it has been discussed whether it should be reinstated. The issue has been the subject of several reviews performed by the government, but the exemption has not been reintroduced.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what arguments the legislator made in support of removing the exemption regarding criminal responsibility for mentally disturbed offenders in 1965. In addition to this, the thesis also addresses what these arguments were based on and if they can be considered sustainable and relevant in today’s discussion about a reintroduction of such an exemption. The study has shown that the legislator largely based the arguments on the idea that punishments, to the greatest extent possible, should be replaced with measures of care and that society should be protected against crime but not necessarily through traditional penalties. The disagreement and debate between the classical and positive schools of criminology played a large role in contributing to these ideas.

The arguments that the legislator presented in support of the abolition of the exemption for mentally disturbed offenders can be applied in today’s discussion. However, the sustainability of the arguments depends on what is considered to be the cause of the crime and the purpose of the punishment. Today’s view of accountability will therefore affect the arguments sustainability in the discussion. In addition to this, the social conditions and the penal system itself has changed significantly since 1965, why it can be hard to argue that the arguments are sustainable today. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ydén, Hanna LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20201
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Straffrätt, Rättshistoria, Tillräknelighet
language
Swedish
id
9010796
date added to LUP
2020-09-24 10:13:08
date last changed
2020-09-24 10:13:08
@misc{9010796,
  abstract     = {{In most legal systems around the world, mentally disturbed offenders are exempt from criminal responsibility and therefore go unpunished. When The Swedish Penal Code was introduced in 1965 this exemption was removed from Swedish law. From this point forward, mentally disturbed offenders have been held accountable for their actions and the mental disorder is instead considered when deciding the appropriate criminal sanction. Ever since the exemption was removed, it has been discussed whether it should be reinstated. The issue has been the subject of several reviews performed by the government, but the exemption has not been reintroduced.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what arguments the legislator made in support of removing the exemption regarding criminal responsibility for mentally disturbed offenders in 1965. In addition to this, the thesis also addresses what these arguments were based on and if they can be considered sustainable and relevant in today’s discussion about a reintroduction of such an exemption. The study has shown that the legislator largely based the arguments on the idea that punishments, to the greatest extent possible, should be replaced with measures of care and that society should be protected against crime but not necessarily through traditional penalties. The disagreement and debate between the classical and positive schools of criminology played a large role in contributing to these ideas.

The arguments that the legislator presented in support of the abolition of the exemption for mentally disturbed offenders can be applied in today’s discussion. However, the sustainability of the arguments depends on what is considered to be the cause of the crime and the purpose of the punishment. Today’s view of accountability will therefore affect the arguments sustainability in the discussion. In addition to this, the social conditions and the penal system itself has changed significantly since 1965, why it can be hard to argue that the arguments are sustainable today.}},
  author       = {{Ydén, Hanna}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Tillräknelighet & brottsbalken - om tillräknelighetslärans avskaffande i svensk rätt}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}