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Kriminalisera att manipulera: Navigera normer i strafflagstiftning – med vilken karta?

Ingridsdotter, Ellen LU (2024) JURM02 20232
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
The values that are considered important in a society change over time. This also applies to criminal law. The paper identifies values, from interests, in criminal law that appear to be central based on the preparatory work and legal text. One protection interest that gained a more prominent position during the latter part of the twentieth century is personal integrity. This includes claims to autonomy, freedom of self-determination. Many crimes that are considered to violate integrity are characterized by psychological action criteria. The paper uses as examples honor violence, prohibition of incitement to suicide, unlawful threats, molestation, stalking and the offences of violation of integrity. Provisions relating to such interests are... (More)
The values that are considered important in a society change over time. This also applies to criminal law. The paper identifies values, from interests, in criminal law that appear to be central based on the preparatory work and legal text. One protection interest that gained a more prominent position during the latter part of the twentieth century is personal integrity. This includes claims to autonomy, freedom of self-determination. Many crimes that are considered to violate integrity are characterized by psychological action criteria. The paper uses as examples honor violence, prohibition of incitement to suicide, unlawful threats, molestation, stalking and the offences of violation of integrity. Provisions relating to such interests are generally formulated in a way that presupposes that an assessment can be made against an objective standard of comparison. This is done by including necessary conditions such as "intended to", or subjective requirements of intention, in the provision. This is justified, according to the legislator, by the principle of legality's requirement for predictability and delimitation. Ds 2022:18 on psychological abuse proposes an-other such provision. One aspect of psychological abuse is described as manipulation. Manipulation as psychological influence between individuals is unexplored in Swedish doctrine. The behavior, along with the crimes de-scribed above, seems to be summarized as undue influence. How, if at all, does a definition of manipulation based on moral philosophy theories use objective values?
Formulating provisions with comparative norms without at the same time pre-supposing values seems complicated. When these values appear to be too im-precise or vague, I argue in the paper, the punishable area risks becoming nar-rower than intended and at the same time more ambiguous. One thesis is that how the legislator relates to values affects how provisions are formulated and what is considered possible to criminalize. For example, freedom is seen as an overriding interest for individuals in a society. The concept is so broad that it is impossible to know what it means from the wording. It requires framing. Interpreting freedom from a classical liberal ideology will lead to one interpretation. Using communitarian theories instead will lead to another.
The paper examines and discusses the use of objective values in legislation by plotting them on a criminal law map that can be examined from different perspectives. As a comparison from outside the field of law, the definition of manipulation is used. The conclusion is that objective values are likely to be a prerequisite for legislation containing psychological action criteria. However, such provisions can probably be formulated in a clearer way, considering the certainty requirement, compared with the currently applicable sections of the fourth chapter of the Criminal Code examined in this paper. The reason why the legislator chose such formulations is believed to be linked to the ideological perspectives that characterize the legislative process. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Vilka värden som betraktas som viktiga i ett samhälle förändras över tid. Det gäller också i straffrätten. I uppsatsen inringas straffrättsliga värden, med ledning i intressen, som utifrån förarbeten och lagtext framstår som centrala. Ett skyddsintresse som fått en mer framskjuten position under den senare delen av nittonhundratalet är personlig integritet. I detta ligger anspråk på autonomi, frihet till självbestämmande. Många brott som anses kränka integriteten kännetecknas av psykiska handlingsrekvisit. I uppsatsen används hedersvåld, förbud mot uppmaning till självmord, olaga hot, ofredande, olaga förföljelse och fridskränkningsbrotten som exempel. Bestämmelser som avser sådana intressen formuleras i regel på ett sätt som förutsätter... (More)
Vilka värden som betraktas som viktiga i ett samhälle förändras över tid. Det gäller också i straffrätten. I uppsatsen inringas straffrättsliga värden, med ledning i intressen, som utifrån förarbeten och lagtext framstår som centrala. Ett skyddsintresse som fått en mer framskjuten position under den senare delen av nittonhundratalet är personlig integritet. I detta ligger anspråk på autonomi, frihet till självbestämmande. Många brott som anses kränka integriteten kännetecknas av psykiska handlingsrekvisit. I uppsatsen används hedersvåld, förbud mot uppmaning till självmord, olaga hot, ofredande, olaga förföljelse och fridskränkningsbrotten som exempel. Bestämmelser som avser sådana intressen formuleras i regel på ett sätt som förutsätter att bedömning kan göras mot en objektiv jämförelsenorm. Det sker genom att rekvisit som ”ägnat att”, eller subjektiva krav på avsikt, skrivs in i bestämmelsen. Detta motiveras, menar lagstiftaren, av legalitetsprincipens krav på förutsebarhet och avgränsning. I Ds 2022:18 om psykisk misshandel föreslås ytterligare en sådan bestämmelse. En aspekt av psykisk misshandel beskrivs vara manipulation. Manipulation som psykologisk påverkan mellan individer är outforskat i den svenska doktrinen. Beteendet verkar tillsammans med de brott som beskrivs ovan kunna sammanfattas som otillbörlig påverkan. Hur, om, använder en definit-ion av manipulation som utgår från moralfilosofiska teorier objektiva värden?
Det verkar svårt att formulera bestämmelser med jämförelsenormer utan att samtidigt förutsätta värden. När de värden som används framstår som alltför oprecisa eller vaga riskerar, argumenterar jag i uppsatsen, det straffbara området bli snävare än avsett och samtidigt mer otydligt. En tes är att hur lagstiftaren förhåller sig till värden påverkar hur bestämmelser formuleras och vad som anses möjligt att kriminalisera. Frihet ses till exempel som ett överordnat intresse för individer i ett samhälle. Begreppet är så vitt att det är omöjligt att utifrån ordalydelsen förstå vad det innebär. Det kräver en inramning. Att tolka frihet utifrån en klassiskt liberal ideologi kommer att leda till en tolkning. Att istället utgå från kommunitär teoribildning en annan.
I uppsatsen granskar och diskuterar jag användandet av objektiva värden i lagstiftning genom att rita in sådana i en straffrättslig karta som kan granskas från olika perspektiv. För jämförelse, hämtad utanför lagstiftningsområdet, används definitionen av manipulation. Slutsatsen är att objektiva värden sannolikt är en förutsättning för brott som konstitueras av psykiska handlings-rekvisit. Sådana bestämmelser bör dock kunna formuleras på ett, med hänsyn till obestämdhetsförbudet, tydligare sätt jämfört med nu gällande och i uppsatsen granskade paragrafer i brottsbalkens fjärde kapitel. Anledningen till att lagstiftaren valt sådana formuleringar tros vara sammankopplad med de ideologiska perspektiv som präglar lagstiftningsprocessen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ingridsdotter, Ellen LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Criminalizing Manipulation: Navigating Norms in Criminal Law - With Which Map?
course
JURM02 20232
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
straffrätt, manipulation, psykisk påverkan, psykiskt våld, psykiska handlingsrekvisit, abstrakta brott, straffrättsliga normer, avgränsning, förutsebarhet, kommunitär teori
language
Swedish
id
9149883
date added to LUP
2024-05-10 14:32:20
date last changed
2024-05-10 14:32:20
@misc{9149883,
  abstract     = {{The values that are considered important in a society change over time. This also applies to criminal law. The paper identifies values, from interests, in criminal law that appear to be central based on the preparatory work and legal text. One protection interest that gained a more prominent position during the latter part of the twentieth century is personal integrity. This includes claims to autonomy, freedom of self-determination. Many crimes that are considered to violate integrity are characterized by psychological action criteria. The paper uses as examples honor violence, prohibition of incitement to suicide, unlawful threats, molestation, stalking and the offences of violation of integrity. Provisions relating to such interests are generally formulated in a way that presupposes that an assessment can be made against an objective standard of comparison. This is done by including necessary conditions such as "intended to", or subjective requirements of intention, in the provision. This is justified, according to the legislator, by the principle of legality's requirement for predictability and delimitation. Ds 2022:18 on psychological abuse proposes an-other such provision. One aspect of psychological abuse is described as manipulation. Manipulation as psychological influence between individuals is unexplored in Swedish doctrine. The behavior, along with the crimes de-scribed above, seems to be summarized as undue influence. How, if at all, does a definition of manipulation based on moral philosophy theories use objective values? 
Formulating provisions with comparative norms without at the same time pre-supposing values seems complicated. When these values appear to be too im-precise or vague, I argue in the paper, the punishable area risks becoming nar-rower than intended and at the same time more ambiguous. One thesis is that how the legislator relates to values affects how provisions are formulated and what is considered possible to criminalize. For example, freedom is seen as an overriding interest for individuals in a society. The concept is so broad that it is impossible to know what it means from the wording. It requires framing. Interpreting freedom from a classical liberal ideology will lead to one interpretation. Using communitarian theories instead will lead to another. 
The paper examines and discusses the use of objective values in legislation by plotting them on a criminal law map that can be examined from different perspectives. As a comparison from outside the field of law, the definition of manipulation is used. The conclusion is that objective values are likely to be a prerequisite for legislation containing psychological action criteria. However, such provisions can probably be formulated in a clearer way, considering the certainty requirement, compared with the currently applicable sections of the fourth chapter of the Criminal Code examined in this paper. The reason why the legislator chose such formulations is believed to be linked to the ideological perspectives that characterize the legislative process.}},
  author       = {{Ingridsdotter, Ellen}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Kriminalisera att manipulera: Navigera normer i strafflagstiftning – med vilken karta?}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}