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Den pålitlige tjänstemannen - En tvärdisciplinär undersökning om domstolars hantering av polisers utsagor

Lossing, Lowe LU (2022) JURM02 20221
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
I de flesta brottmål som handläggs i svenska domstolar utgör den viktigaste bevisningen utsagor från personer som bevittnat eller blivit utsatta för brott. Dessa utsagor kan i samband med att de avges inför rätten präglas av olika felkällor som på olika vis kan leda till felaktiga utpekanden vilket i längden kan resultera i att oskyldiga döms.
Denna uppsats har för avsikt att undersöka sådana felkällor hos utsagopersoner som har den gemensamma nämnaren att de är poliser. I uppsatsen konstateras att, till skillnad från vad många kanske tror, poliser är ungefär lika påtagliga att drabbas av felkällor som ”vanliga” vittnen. Vissa felkällor kan till och med prägla polisens utsaga mer än när utsagopersonen inte är polis. I uppsatsen... (More)
I de flesta brottmål som handläggs i svenska domstolar utgör den viktigaste bevisningen utsagor från personer som bevittnat eller blivit utsatta för brott. Dessa utsagor kan i samband med att de avges inför rätten präglas av olika felkällor som på olika vis kan leda till felaktiga utpekanden vilket i längden kan resultera i att oskyldiga döms.
Denna uppsats har för avsikt att undersöka sådana felkällor hos utsagopersoner som har den gemensamma nämnaren att de är poliser. I uppsatsen konstateras att, till skillnad från vad många kanske tror, poliser är ungefär lika påtagliga att drabbas av felkällor som ”vanliga” vittnen. Vissa felkällor kan till och med prägla polisens utsaga mer än när utsagopersonen inte är polis. I uppsatsen konstateras vidare att det finns felkällor som kan kategoriseras på olika vis. Vissa felkällor är kognitivt betingade och präglar således utsagan utan att utsagopersonen är medveten om det. Vissa felkällor är motiverade från utsagopersonens sida i den bemärkelse att han eller hon försöker få den tilltalade dömd, eller åtminstone är likgiltig inför att den tilltalade döms. Vissa felkällor påverkar oss undermedvetet, vilket enkelt uttryckt innebär att ett underliggande intresse omedvetet kan påverka vad utsagopersonen uppger.
När det konstaterats att det finns en uppsjö av felkällor som kan prägla en polis utsaga undersöker denna uppsats hur domstolar hanterar risken för felkällors förekomst. Resultatet av denna undersökning visade att domstolar sällan observerar eller diskuterar riskerna med felkällor i polisers utsagor samtidigt som domstolarna oftast meddelade en fällande dom när den enda bevisningen i målet består av en eller två polisers utsagor.
Slutligen görs en undersökning av vad som teoretiskt sett krävs av en utsaga för att den ska anses leva upp till beviskravet ”bortom rimligt tvivel” och hur detta förhåller sig till den hypotetiska risken för felkällor. (Less)
Abstract
In most criminal law cases handled by Swedish courts the most valuable evidence is the one received from cross-examinations of persons who have witnessed a crime or from those who have been subject to a crime. During the cross-examinations, when the testimonies are given, these can be subject to several sources of error which can result in illegitimate statements of guilt which lead to wrongful convictions.
This essay will examine such sources of error when those giving the testimonies are police officers. The essay ascertains, despite what many people may think, that police officers’ testimonies are about as exposed to sources of error as “regular” witnesses’ testimonies are. Some sources of error can corrupt the police testimonies... (More)
In most criminal law cases handled by Swedish courts the most valuable evidence is the one received from cross-examinations of persons who have witnessed a crime or from those who have been subject to a crime. During the cross-examinations, when the testimonies are given, these can be subject to several sources of error which can result in illegitimate statements of guilt which lead to wrongful convictions.
This essay will examine such sources of error when those giving the testimonies are police officers. The essay ascertains, despite what many people may think, that police officers’ testimonies are about as exposed to sources of error as “regular” witnesses’ testimonies are. Some sources of error can corrupt the police testimonies even more than for those who aren’t police officers. Furthermore, in the essay it’s pointed out that sources of error can be categorised differently. Some of these are unconscious and corrupt the testimony without the police officer being aware of it. Some sources of error are motivated in the sense that the police officer has an interest in conviction, or at least is indifferent to a verdict of guilt. Some sources of error are subconscious which means an underlying interest unknowingly influences the given testimony.
When it’s been ascertained that there are several sources of error which can corrupt the police testimonies, the essay examines how courts handle the risks associated with these errors. In addition, it’s also examined how frequent verdicts of guilt are when the only given evidence in the case are police testimonies. As the essay concludes, courts are very reticent of discussing the hypothetical risk of sources of error of police testimonies. It’s also concluded that in most of the examined cases the courts convicted the defendant when the only given evidence was the testimony of one or two police officers.
Finally, this essay examines what’s theoretically required of a testimony to prove the case “beyond reasonable doubt” and how it could be affected by the hypothetical risk of sources of error. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lossing, Lowe LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
The reliable police officer - An interdisciplinary study of courts handeling of police testimonies
course
JURM02 20221
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
allmän rättslära, processrätt, bevisvärdering, utsagor, polis, felkällor, vittnesmål, vittnespsykologi, polispsykologi, tjänsteman, våld mot tjänsteman, hot mot tjänsteman
language
Swedish
id
9080643
date added to LUP
2022-06-14 09:31:18
date last changed
2022-06-14 18:54:26
@misc{9080643,
  abstract     = {{In most criminal law cases handled by Swedish courts the most valuable evidence is the one received from cross-examinations of persons who have witnessed a crime or from those who have been subject to a crime. During the cross-examinations, when the testimonies are given, these can be subject to several sources of error which can result in illegitimate statements of guilt which lead to wrongful convictions. 
	This essay will examine such sources of error when those giving the testimonies are police officers. The essay ascertains, despite what many people may think, that police officers’ testimonies are about as exposed to sources of error as “regular” witnesses’ testimonies are. Some sources of error can corrupt the police testimonies even more than for those who aren’t police officers. Furthermore, in the essay it’s pointed out that sources of error can be categorised differently. Some of these are unconscious and corrupt the testimony without the police officer being aware of it. Some sources of error are motivated in the sense that the police officer has an interest in conviction, or at least is indifferent to a verdict of guilt. Some sources of error are subconscious which means an underlying interest unknowingly influences the given testimony.
	When it’s been ascertained that there are several sources of error which can corrupt the police testimonies, the essay examines how courts handle the risks associated with these errors. In addition, it’s also examined how frequent verdicts of guilt are when the only given evidence in the case are police testimonies. As the essay concludes, courts are very reticent of discussing the hypothetical risk of sources of error of police testimonies. It’s also concluded that in most of the examined cases the courts convicted the defendant when the only given evidence was the testimony of one or two police officers. 
	Finally, this essay examines what’s theoretically required of a testimony to prove the case “beyond reasonable doubt” and how it could be affected by the hypothetical risk of sources of error.}},
  author       = {{Lossing, Lowe}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Den pålitlige tjänstemannen - En tvärdisciplinär undersökning om domstolars hantering av polisers utsagor}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}