Prejudikatskraft i mål om skakvåld
(2021) LAGF03 20211Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Spädbarn som skakas av sina föräldrar kan få livshotande och permanenta skador. Fallen är dock svåra att identifiera och baseras på en diagnostik som har blivit ifrågasatt genom senare års forskning. För att fortsatt skydda de barn som utsätts för våld, måste rättsväsendet utveckla effektiva metoder och bevistolkningar för att säkra barnets rättigheter.
Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka svenska domstolars bevisvärdering i fall av misstänkt skakvåld. Uppsatsen rör rättsväsendets metod för att hantera den medicinska bevisningen och belysa svårigheterna som uppstår när domstolarna tvingas ta till ifrågasatt medicinsk expertis.
Två prejudikatsdomar som behandlar skakvåld ligger till grund för analysen. Den ena domen från Högsta... (More) - Spädbarn som skakas av sina föräldrar kan få livshotande och permanenta skador. Fallen är dock svåra att identifiera och baseras på en diagnostik som har blivit ifrågasatt genom senare års forskning. För att fortsatt skydda de barn som utsätts för våld, måste rättsväsendet utveckla effektiva metoder och bevistolkningar för att säkra barnets rättigheter.
Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka svenska domstolars bevisvärdering i fall av misstänkt skakvåld. Uppsatsen rör rättsväsendets metod för att hantera den medicinska bevisningen och belysa svårigheterna som uppstår när domstolarna tvingas ta till ifrågasatt medicinsk expertis.
Två prejudikatsdomar som behandlar skakvåld ligger till grund för analysen. Den ena domen från Högsta domstolen, gäller straffansvar för föräldrar. Den andra, från Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen, gäller förutsättningarna för tvångsvård när det finns en misstanke om att ett barn utsatts för skakvåld. Domarna och deras påverkan på efterkommande praxis har här analyserats. Undersökning har gjorts genom en komparativ och kvalitativ ansats, där sex utvalda underrättsfall jämförts med prejudikaten.
Slutsatsen är att de system för bevisvärdering som skapats för att skydda de barn som utsätts för skakvåld har vissa brister. Detta gäller både de straffrättsliga fallen såväl som fallen gällande tvångsvård. Domstolarna tenderar att fokusera enbart på vissa specifika symtom vid avgörandet om skakvåld förekommit. Detta hindrar dem från att ge en heltäckande beskrivning av utsatta barns skadebild. Konsekvenserna blir allvarliga, framförallt då det också finns en ovilja att kombinera medicinsk bevisning med övrig bevisning. Sammantaget ger detta stora konsekvenser på hur barns rättigheter säkras i skakvåldsfall. (Less) - Abstract
- Infants who are being shaken by their parents can get life-threatening and permanent injuries. The cases are however hard to identify and based on diagnostics that has been questioned in recent research. In order to still protect infants who are being exposed to head trauma, the legal system need to develop a rigorous and effective system that secures the rights of the child.
The aim of the thesis is to examine the evaluation of evidence in Swedish courts in cases where suspicion has been raised that an infant has been shaken. Emphasis is put on the legal systems’ way of handling medical evidence, in order to illuminate the difficulties that arises when the Swedish courts need to rely heavily on disputed medical research.
The basis of... (More) - Infants who are being shaken by their parents can get life-threatening and permanent injuries. The cases are however hard to identify and based on diagnostics that has been questioned in recent research. In order to still protect infants who are being exposed to head trauma, the legal system need to develop a rigorous and effective system that secures the rights of the child.
The aim of the thesis is to examine the evaluation of evidence in Swedish courts in cases where suspicion has been raised that an infant has been shaken. Emphasis is put on the legal systems’ way of handling medical evidence, in order to illuminate the difficulties that arises when the Swedish courts need to rely heavily on disputed medical research.
The basis of the thesis is two precedents regarding cases of suspected infant head trauma. The first precedent from the Supreme Court of Sweden is concerned with the criminal liability of the parent. The other, from the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden, is handling the question of compulsory care of a child that are suspected to be the subject to abuse. The cases and their effect on future rulings have been analyzed. The research of this paper has been of qualitative and comparative nature where six of the cases from the lower courts is analyzed together with the two precedents.
The conclusion of the thesis is that the evaluation of evidence in cases of suspected shaking is questionable. This applies both to the criminal cases and the cases regarding compulsory care. The courts tend to focus on only a few of the symptoms that can arise when a child is shaken, and therefore it fails to evaluate the whole extent of the child’s injuries. The consequences are severe, especially since the courts also fail to combine the medical evidence with other forms of evidence, such as testimonies from witnesses. All together, the effects are serious as it undermines the rights of the child in cases of abuse. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9045999
- author
- Cornefjord, Eric LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- allmän rättslära, skakvåld
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9045999
- date added to LUP
- 2021-06-29 16:43:22
- date last changed
- 2021-06-29 16:43:22
@misc{9045999,
abstract = {{Infants who are being shaken by their parents can get life-threatening and permanent injuries. The cases are however hard to identify and based on diagnostics that has been questioned in recent research. In order to still protect infants who are being exposed to head trauma, the legal system need to develop a rigorous and effective system that secures the rights of the child.
The aim of the thesis is to examine the evaluation of evidence in Swedish courts in cases where suspicion has been raised that an infant has been shaken. Emphasis is put on the legal systems’ way of handling medical evidence, in order to illuminate the difficulties that arises when the Swedish courts need to rely heavily on disputed medical research.
The basis of the thesis is two precedents regarding cases of suspected infant head trauma. The first precedent from the Supreme Court of Sweden is concerned with the criminal liability of the parent. The other, from the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden, is handling the question of compulsory care of a child that are suspected to be the subject to abuse. The cases and their effect on future rulings have been analyzed. The research of this paper has been of qualitative and comparative nature where six of the cases from the lower courts is analyzed together with the two precedents.
The conclusion of the thesis is that the evaluation of evidence in cases of suspected shaking is questionable. This applies both to the criminal cases and the cases regarding compulsory care. The courts tend to focus on only a few of the symptoms that can arise when a child is shaken, and therefore it fails to evaluate the whole extent of the child’s injuries. The consequences are severe, especially since the courts also fail to combine the medical evidence with other forms of evidence, such as testimonies from witnesses. All together, the effects are serious as it undermines the rights of the child in cases of abuse.}},
author = {{Cornefjord, Eric}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Prejudikatskraft i mål om skakvåld}},
year = {{2021}},
}