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”Bevittna”– att se eller höra? - En kritisk studie av barnfridsbrottets bevittnanderekvisit i ljuset av dess tillämpning i praktiken.

Wärmlind, Saga LU (2023) LAGF03 20232
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Letting a child witness certain criminal acts being committed between relatives to the child has been criminalized since July 1, 2021. The witnessing requirement constitutes a necessary prerequisite for criminal liability and implies that the child must have seen or heard the criminal act being committed.
During the legislative process, it was noted that the requirement could give rise to certain difficulties in practical application of the provision. Despite this, the legislator opted to retain the original wording. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a critical analysis of the formulation of the witnessing requirement, considering both the actual adjudication and the legislator’s intentions. Additionally, the paper aims to... (More)
Letting a child witness certain criminal acts being committed between relatives to the child has been criminalized since July 1, 2021. The witnessing requirement constitutes a necessary prerequisite for criminal liability and implies that the child must have seen or heard the criminal act being committed.
During the legislative process, it was noted that the requirement could give rise to certain difficulties in practical application of the provision. Despite this, the legislator opted to retain the original wording. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a critical analysis of the formulation of the witnessing requirement, considering both the actual adjudication and the legislator’s intentions. Additionally, the paper aims to investigate whether the current legal position provides grounds for a revision of the requirement.
The study reveals that the requirement for witnessing gives rise to a range of additional questions for the legal practitioner to address. Demarcation issues which, through the essay’s case study, have been found to lead to an inconsistent application of the law. What has been demonstrated is that the courts seem to establish differentiating criteria for when a child should be considered to have witnessed a criminal act and when not. On certain levels, it is also possible to discern a certain discrepancy between the legislator’s guidelines and the actual application of the law. The requirement and the legal position it has given rise to have also been discussed in relation to the demands imposed by the principle of legality on the formulation of criminal law provisions. The concluding discussion revolves around whether there are grounds for a revision of the requirement, and the conclusion reached is that there are. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Sedan den 1 juli 2021 är det straffbart att låta barn bevittna vissa brottsliga gärningar som begås av och mot en närstående person till barnet. Rekvisitet bevittna utgör en grundläggande förutsättning för straffansvar och ska enligt lagstiftaren förstås som att barnet måste ha sett eller hört den brottsliga gärningen begås.
Under lagstiftningsförfarandet uppmärksammades att rekvisitet kunde komma att ge upphov till vissa svårigheter vid den praktiska tillämpningen. Trots detta valde lagstiftaren att behålla den ursprungliga lydelsen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att genomföra en kritisk analys av rekvisitets utformning i ljuset av såväl den faktiska rättstillämpningen som lagstiftarens vilja. Dessutom ämnar uppsatsen utreda huruvida... (More)
Sedan den 1 juli 2021 är det straffbart att låta barn bevittna vissa brottsliga gärningar som begås av och mot en närstående person till barnet. Rekvisitet bevittna utgör en grundläggande förutsättning för straffansvar och ska enligt lagstiftaren förstås som att barnet måste ha sett eller hört den brottsliga gärningen begås.
Under lagstiftningsförfarandet uppmärksammades att rekvisitet kunde komma att ge upphov till vissa svårigheter vid den praktiska tillämpningen. Trots detta valde lagstiftaren att behålla den ursprungliga lydelsen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att genomföra en kritisk analys av rekvisitets utformning i ljuset av såväl den faktiska rättstillämpningen som lagstiftarens vilja. Dessutom ämnar uppsatsen utreda huruvida nuvarande rättsläge ger upphov till skäl för en omarbetning av rekvisitet. Undersökningen visar att kravet på bevittnande ger upphov till en rad gränsdragningsfrågor för rättstillämparen att ta ställning till. Gränsdragningsfrågor som, genom uppsatsens rättsfallsstudie, visat sig ge upphov till en inadekvat rättstillämpning. Vad som visats är att domstolarna inbördes tycks uppställa differentierande krav för när ett barn ska anses ha bevittnat en brottslig gärning och inte. På vissa plan går det även att urskilja en viss diskrepans mellan lagstiftarens riktlinjer och den faktiska tillämpningen.
Rekvisitet och det rättsläge det funnits ge upphov till diskuteras även i relation till de krav som legalitetsprincipen uppställer på utformningen av straffrättsliga bestämmelser. Den avslutande diskussionen som förs kretsar kring huruvida det föreligger skäl för en omarbetning av rekvisitet, och slutsatsen som nås är att det gör det. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wärmlind, Saga LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20232
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
straffrätt
language
Swedish
id
9144668
date added to LUP
2024-04-19 16:25:30
date last changed
2024-04-19 16:25:30
@misc{9144668,
  abstract     = {{Letting a child witness certain criminal acts being committed between relatives to the child has been criminalized since July 1, 2021. The witnessing requirement constitutes a necessary prerequisite for criminal liability and implies that the child must have seen or heard the criminal act being committed. 
During the legislative process, it was noted that the requirement could give rise to certain difficulties in practical application of the provision. Despite this, the legislator opted to retain the original wording. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a critical analysis of the formulation of the witnessing requirement, considering both the actual adjudication and the legislator’s intentions. Additionally, the paper aims to investigate whether the current legal position provides grounds for a revision of the requirement.
The study reveals that the requirement for witnessing gives rise to a range of additional questions for the legal practitioner to address. Demarcation issues which, through the essay’s case study, have been found to lead to an inconsistent application of the law. What has been demonstrated is that the courts seem to establish differentiating criteria for when a child should be considered to have witnessed a criminal act and when not. On certain levels, it is also possible to discern a certain discrepancy between the legislator’s guidelines and the actual application of the law. The requirement and the legal position it has given rise to have also been discussed in relation to the demands imposed by the principle of legality on the formulation of criminal law provisions. The concluding discussion revolves around whether there are grounds for a revision of the requirement, and the conclusion reached is that there are.}},
  author       = {{Wärmlind, Saga}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{”Bevittna”– att se eller höra? - En kritisk studie av barnfridsbrottets bevittnanderekvisit i ljuset av dess tillämpning i praktiken.}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}