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En upprepande slump eller ett andrafierande mönster? - En undersökning om strukturell diskriminering på grund av etnisk tillhörighet inom domstolsväsendet

Danilova, Tanja LU (2020) JURM02 20201
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Over the past decades, The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has conducted two studies showing that immigrants in Sweden and people with foreign backgrounds are overrepresented amongst crime suspects. As migration to Sweden increases these studies have received more attention. Nationalistic and social conservative parties are taking advantage of the situation, why the political climate has hardened; to such extent that it is now considered a threat to Sweden’s national security. This polarization can, to some degree, be seen within the Swedish judiciary. Previous research has evidenced structural discrimination against ethnic minorities in Swedish courts. In this study I therefore examine whether structural discrimination... (More)
Over the past decades, The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has conducted two studies showing that immigrants in Sweden and people with foreign backgrounds are overrepresented amongst crime suspects. As migration to Sweden increases these studies have received more attention. Nationalistic and social conservative parties are taking advantage of the situation, why the political climate has hardened; to such extent that it is now considered a threat to Sweden’s national security. This polarization can, to some degree, be seen within the Swedish judiciary. Previous research has evidenced structural discrimination against ethnic minorities in Swedish courts. In this study I therefore examine whether structural discrimination against ethnic minorities occurs in a selection of rape judgements and if so, how this occurs. A prerequisite for the occurrence of structural discrimination against ethnic minorities is however the creation of “the Other”, which at the same time entails defining “the Self”. The study is divided into two parts; in the first part I take inspiration from a discourse psychological approach and analyse my selection of judgements. Here I identify discourses sorted into different themes, that illustrate in what way the court creates “the Other” and portrays the “the Self”. The second part consists of a statistical analysis and I give an account of the choice of sanction and the length of sentence in the judgements where the Court of Appeal has adjudicated the case. I also make a comparison between defendants, which I have divided into three categories. This part is moreover preceded by a chapter where I, by applying a legal dogmatic method, give an account of the Swedish system of criminal sanctions and the applicable regulations in the Penal Code for determination of penalties. The aim is to examine whether it is possible to see any negative discrimination in practice, against people that have another ethnicity other than Swedish.

The study shows that immigrants are sentenced to longer imprisonment sentences in comparison to ethnic Swedes. In the majority of these cases there is also an underlying discourse where the court creates “the Other”. Accordingly, this indicates the occurrence of structural discrimination because of ethnicity. Since the criminal acts and circumstances are not identical, it is not possible to say how the court would have adjudicated in a similar case, if the defendant would have been an ethnic Swede. However, a common denominator for these cases, where the defendant is an immigrant, is that they all have a foreign citizenship. This fact itself indicates a risk that ethnicity is consistently a factor taken into account when the court chooses a sanction, which cannot be explained just by stating that different circumstances occurred. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Under de senaste årtiondena har Brå publicerat två rapporter som visat att invandrade personer samt personer med utländsk bakgrund är överrepresenterade bland de som registreras för brott. Intresset för denna fråga växer i takt med att invandringen till Sverige ökar. Situationen utnyttjas av nationalistiska och socialkonservativa partier och samhällsklimatet har nu hårdnat till den grad att den ökade främlingsfientliga och radikalnationalistiska idéströmningen betraktas som ett nationellt hot av polisen. Denna polarisering har även i någon mån nått domstolsväsendet. Framställningen tar avstamp i tidigare gjorda studier, som visar på att strukturell diskriminering på grund av etnisk tillhörighet inom domstolsväsendet är ett faktum. Jag... (More)
Under de senaste årtiondena har Brå publicerat två rapporter som visat att invandrade personer samt personer med utländsk bakgrund är överrepresenterade bland de som registreras för brott. Intresset för denna fråga växer i takt med att invandringen till Sverige ökar. Situationen utnyttjas av nationalistiska och socialkonservativa partier och samhällsklimatet har nu hårdnat till den grad att den ökade främlingsfientliga och radikalnationalistiska idéströmningen betraktas som ett nationellt hot av polisen. Denna polarisering har även i någon mån nått domstolsväsendet. Framställningen tar avstamp i tidigare gjorda studier, som visar på att strukturell diskriminering på grund av etnisk tillhörighet inom domstolsväsendet är ett faktum. Jag undersöker om det förekommer strukturell diskriminering på grund av etnisk tillhörighet i mitt urval av våldtäktsdomar, och hur den i sådana fall kommer till uttryck. En förutsättning för strukturell diskriminering är emellertid ett skapande av ”de andra”, vilket i sin tur även innebär en porträttering av ”självet”. Arbetet är därmed uppdelat i två delar; i första delen inspireras jag av en diskurspsykologisk metod och analyserar mitt urval av domar. Där identifieras diskurser, uppdelade i olika teman, som åskådliggör hur domstolen kan anses skapa ”de andra” och porträttera ”självet”. I andra delen följer en mer statistisk undersökning och redogörelse för påföljdsval och strafftid, i de domar där en påföljd utdömts i andra instans. Här görs en jämförelse mellan tre olika kategorier av tilltalade. Den här delen föregås av ett rättsdogmatiskt kapitel, där jag med fokus på vad som är relevant för undersökningen, redogör för påföljdssystemet och dess reglering för straffmätning och påföljdsval. Avsikten är att utreda om man i mitt urval kan se någon negativ särbehandling i praktiken, av personer som har en annan etnisk tillhörighet än endast svensk.

De gjorda undersökningarna i framställningen visar att invandrade personer döms till längre fängelsestraff jämfört med etniska svenskar och att det i majoriteten av domarna där fängelse dömts ut förekommer en andrafierande diskurs. Det finns därmed indikationer på att strukturell diskriminering på grund av etnisk tillhörighet förekommer. Emellertid är det inte fråga om identiska gärningar eller omständigheter, och något facit för hur domstolen hade dömt i ett likadant fall, om personen varit etniskt svensk, finns inte. En gemensam nämnare i domarna där den tilltalade är en invandrad person är dock att de alla har ett utländskt medborgarskap. Det faktumet i sig pekar på att det finns en risk för att etnisk tillhörighet är en faktor som vägs in i bedömningen, vilket inte kan bortförklaras med argumentet att det är fråga om olika gärningar och olika fall. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Danilova, Tanja LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
A repeated coincidence or a pattern of othering? - A study on structural discrimination against ethnic minorities within the Swedish judiciary
course
JURM02 20201
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
straffrätt, strukturell diskriminering, rasism, andrafiering, "de andra", negativ särbehandling, påföljdsbedömning, påföljdsval, straffmätning, diskurspsykologisk analys
language
Swedish
id
9010919
date added to LUP
2020-06-21 12:23:08
date last changed
2020-06-21 12:23:08
@misc{9010919,
  abstract     = {{Over the past decades, The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has conducted two studies showing that immigrants in Sweden and people with foreign backgrounds are overrepresented amongst crime suspects. As migration to Sweden increases these studies have received more attention. Nationalistic and social conservative parties are taking advantage of the situation, why the political climate has hardened; to such extent that it is now considered a threat to Sweden’s national security. This polarization can, to some degree, be seen within the Swedish judiciary. Previous research has evidenced structural discrimination against ethnic minorities in Swedish courts. In this study I therefore examine whether structural discrimination against ethnic minorities occurs in a selection of rape judgements and if so, how this occurs. A prerequisite for the occurrence of structural discrimination against ethnic minorities is however the creation of “the Other”, which at the same time entails defining “the Self”. The study is divided into two parts; in the first part I take inspiration from a discourse psychological approach and analyse my selection of judgements. Here I identify discourses sorted into different themes, that illustrate in what way the court creates “the Other” and portrays the “the Self”. The second part consists of a statistical analysis and I give an account of the choice of sanction and the length of sentence in the judgements where the Court of Appeal has adjudicated the case. I also make a comparison between defendants, which I have divided into three categories. This part is moreover preceded by a chapter where I, by applying a legal dogmatic method, give an account of the Swedish system of criminal sanctions and the applicable regulations in the Penal Code for determination of penalties. The aim is to examine whether it is possible to see any negative discrimination in practice, against people that have another ethnicity other than Swedish.

The study shows that immigrants are sentenced to longer imprisonment sentences in comparison to ethnic Swedes. In the majority of these cases there is also an underlying discourse where the court creates “the Other”. Accordingly, this indicates the occurrence of structural discrimination because of ethnicity. Since the criminal acts and circumstances are not identical, it is not possible to say how the court would have adjudicated in a similar case, if the defendant would have been an ethnic Swede. However, a common denominator for these cases, where the defendant is an immigrant, is that they all have a foreign citizenship. This fact itself indicates a risk that ethnicity is consistently a factor taken into account when the court chooses a sanction, which cannot be explained just by stating that different circumstances occurred.}},
  author       = {{Danilova, Tanja}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{En upprepande slump eller ett andrafierande mönster? - En undersökning om strukturell diskriminering på grund av etnisk tillhörighet inom domstolsväsendet}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}