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Gråzonen mellan det straffbara och straffria - Om hovrätternas tillämpning av ansvarsfrihetsregeln i 6 kap. 14 § brottsbalken

Agert, Ebba LU (2022) JURM02 20221
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
This thesis examines the gray area between punishable and unpunishable
sexual acts against children. All sexual acts against children are
criminalized, regardless of whether the child consented or not. However,
there is a rule prescribing discharge from liability for sexual acts which
obviously did not involve an abuse of the child. The purpose of this thesis is
to investigate the circumstances that determine whether a sexual act with a
child should be punished or not. By examining the courts of appeal's
application of the rule I also analyze whether the adjudications are uniform,
legally certain and in accordance with the legislator's intentions and the
legally protected interest.

The review of the case law shows that the... (More)
This thesis examines the gray area between punishable and unpunishable
sexual acts against children. All sexual acts against children are
criminalized, regardless of whether the child consented or not. However,
there is a rule prescribing discharge from liability for sexual acts which
obviously did not involve an abuse of the child. The purpose of this thesis is
to investigate the circumstances that determine whether a sexual act with a
child should be punished or not. By examining the courts of appeal's
application of the rule I also analyze whether the adjudications are uniform,
legally certain and in accordance with the legislator's intentions and the
legally protected interest.

The review of the case law shows that the courts discuss the circumstances
that has been considered relevant by the legislator – i.e., the age of the
injured party, the difference in age and maturity between the parties, the
relationship of the parties, the circumstances under which the sexual act was
committed and other circumstances. However, the circumstances are valued
differently by the courts. This lack of predictability makes it difficult to
know whether a sexual act with a child can lead to punishment or not. To
improve legal certainty in the application of law, the legislator or the
Supreme Court needs to clarify how the criteria are to be assessed.

There are also parts of the application of law that do not correspond with the
legally protected interest and the intention of the legislator. The courts of
appeal grant discharge from liability even in cases where it is uncertain
whether the act involved abuse of the injured party or not because the courts
do not consider the injured party’s own statement in the assessment. I
believe that such an application is contrary to both the legally protected
interest and the legislator's intentions with the rule and believe that the
courts should always take the injured party’s own account of the incident
into consideration. Only then is it possible to give a well-founded answer to
the question of whether the sexual act constituted an abuse or not. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Denna uppsats behandlar gråzonen mellan straffvärda och straffria sexuella
handlingar mot barn. Som utgångspunkt är alla sexuella handlingar mot barn
otillåtna oavsett om de varit frivilliga. Det finns dock en ansvarsfrihetsregel
som innebär att vissa sexuella handlingar mot barn inte ska straffas om det
är uppenbart att handlingen inte inneburit ett övergrepp mot barnet. Syftet
med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilka omständigheter som avgör huruvida en
sexuell handling med ett barn är straffvärd eller inte. Uppsatsens särskilda
fokus är att granska hovrätternas tillämpning av ansvarsfrihetsregeln och att
analysera om rättstillämpningen är rättssäker och i enlighet med
lagstiftarens intentioner och regleringens... (More)
Denna uppsats behandlar gråzonen mellan straffvärda och straffria sexuella
handlingar mot barn. Som utgångspunkt är alla sexuella handlingar mot barn
otillåtna oavsett om de varit frivilliga. Det finns dock en ansvarsfrihetsregel
som innebär att vissa sexuella handlingar mot barn inte ska straffas om det
är uppenbart att handlingen inte inneburit ett övergrepp mot barnet. Syftet
med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilka omständigheter som avgör huruvida en
sexuell handling med ett barn är straffvärd eller inte. Uppsatsens särskilda
fokus är att granska hovrätternas tillämpning av ansvarsfrihetsregeln och att
analysera om rättstillämpningen är rättssäker och i enlighet med
lagstiftarens intentioner och regleringens skyddsintresse.

Genomgången av hovrättspraxis visar att domstolarna resonerar om de
omständigheter som lagstiftaren har ansett relevanta för bedömningen av
ansvarsfrihet – dvs. målsägandes ålder, skillnaden i ålder och mognad
mellan parterna, parternas relation, omständigheterna under vilka den
sexuella handlingen företogs och övriga omständigheter. Omständigheterna
värderas dock olika av domstolarna. Denna bristande förutsebarhet gör det
svårt att på förhand veta om en sexuell handling med ett barn kan föranleda
straff eller inte. För att förbättra rättssäkerheten i rättstillämpningen behöver lagstiftaren eller Högsta domstolen förtydliga hur kriterierna ska bedömas.

Det finns även delar av rättstillämpningen som inte stämmer överens med
kriminaliseringens skyddsintresse och lagstiftarens avsikt. Hovrätterna tycks
bevilja ansvarsfrihet även i fall då det råder osäkerhet om handlingen
inneburit ett övergrepp mot målsägande eller inte eftersom domstolarna inte
väger in målsägandes egen utsago i bedömningen. Jag menar att en sådan
tillämpning är i strid med både kriminaliseringens skyddsintresse och
lagstiftarens intentioner med ansvarsfrihetsregeln och anser att domstolarna
alltid borde väga in målsägandes egen berättelse av händelsen. Först då går
det att ge ett välgrundat svar på frågan om den sexuella handlingen inneburit
ett övergrepp eller inte. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Agert, Ebba LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
The gray area between the punishable and unpunishable - Regarding the courts of appeal's application of 6 kap. 14 § The Swedish Penal Code
course
JURM02 20221
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
straffrätt (en. criminal law), sexualbrott, ansvarsfrihet, ansvarsfrihetsregeln, sexualbrott mot barn, våldtäkt mot barn, sexuellt utnyttjande av barn, rättsfallsstudie, rättssäkerhet
language
Swedish
id
9079967
date added to LUP
2022-06-09 12:37:04
date last changed
2022-06-09 12:37:04
@misc{9079967,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines the gray area between punishable and unpunishable
sexual acts against children. All sexual acts against children are 
criminalized, regardless of whether the child consented or not. However, 
there is a rule prescribing discharge from liability for sexual acts which
obviously did not involve an abuse of the child. The purpose of this thesis is 
to investigate the circumstances that determine whether a sexual act with a 
child should be punished or not. By examining the courts of appeal's 
application of the rule I also analyze whether the adjudications are uniform,
legally certain and in accordance with the legislator's intentions and the
legally protected interest.

The review of the case law shows that the courts discuss the circumstances 
that has been considered relevant by the legislator – i.e., the age of the 
injured party, the difference in age and maturity between the parties, the 
relationship of the parties, the circumstances under which the sexual act was 
committed and other circumstances. However, the circumstances are valued 
differently by the courts. This lack of predictability makes it difficult to 
know whether a sexual act with a child can lead to punishment or not. To
improve legal certainty in the application of law, the legislator or the 
Supreme Court needs to clarify how the criteria are to be assessed.

There are also parts of the application of law that do not correspond with the 
legally protected interest and the intention of the legislator. The courts of 
appeal grant discharge from liability even in cases where it is uncertain 
whether the act involved abuse of the injured party or not because the courts 
do not consider the injured party’s own statement in the assessment. I 
believe that such an application is contrary to both the legally protected
interest and the legislator's intentions with the rule and believe that the 
courts should always take the injured party’s own account of the incident
into consideration. Only then is it possible to give a well-founded answer to 
the question of whether the sexual act constituted an abuse or not.}},
  author       = {{Agert, Ebba}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Gråzonen mellan det straffbara och straffria - Om hovrätternas tillämpning av ansvarsfrihetsregeln i 6 kap. 14 § brottsbalken}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}