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Rättssäkerheten på hal is: Trovärdighetsbedömningen av anonyma vittnen i brottsmål

Sörman, Josefin LU (2024) LAGF03 20242
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur ett vittnes anonymitet i brotts-mål kan komma att påverka rättens bedömning av vittnets trovärdighet, och om svårigheten i detta riskerar att påverka den tilltalades rättssäkerhet. Uppsatsen analyserar den nya lagen Lag (2024:11:80) om anonyma vittnen i brottsmål ur ett kritiskt perspektiv.
Jag undersöker i uppsatsen huruvida faktumet att vittnet fysiskt döljs för rätten kan påverka rättens bedömning av dennes trovärdighet. I ljuset av att HD, med stöd av rättspsykologisk forskning, uttalat att förhörspersonens kroppsspråk och allmänna trovärdighetsintryck inte ska påverka bedöm-ningen drar jag slutsatsen att detta inte nämnvärt kommer påverka trovär-dighetsbedömningen av anonyma vittnen... (More)
Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur ett vittnes anonymitet i brotts-mål kan komma att påverka rättens bedömning av vittnets trovärdighet, och om svårigheten i detta riskerar att påverka den tilltalades rättssäkerhet. Uppsatsen analyserar den nya lagen Lag (2024:11:80) om anonyma vittnen i brottsmål ur ett kritiskt perspektiv.
Jag undersöker i uppsatsen huruvida faktumet att vittnet fysiskt döljs för rätten kan påverka rättens bedömning av dennes trovärdighet. I ljuset av att HD, med stöd av rättspsykologisk forskning, uttalat att förhörspersonens kroppsspråk och allmänna trovärdighetsintryck inte ska påverka bedöm-ningen drar jag slutsatsen att detta inte nämnvärt kommer påverka trovär-dighetsbedömningen av anonyma vittnen negativt. Jag menar även att rättssäkerheten ur denna synpunkt kan bli bättre för den tilltalade, då be-dömningen av vittnens trovärdighet kan bli mer objektiv.
I det nya systemet är vittnet helt anonymt för rätten, vilket innebär att den inte kan utreda vittnets relation till den tilltalade. Jag menar att detta är ett hinder i trovärdighetsbedömningen av vittnet då rätten inte kan utläsa den-nes motivationella trovärdighet. Detta höjer risken att en felaktig informat-ion tas med i bedömningen, vilket äventyrar den tilltalades rätt till en rätt-vis rättegång enligt art. 6 EKMR,
Det framkommer i den nya lagen Lag (2024:1180) om anonyma vittnen i brottsmål att en offentlig företrädare ska förordnas i ärenden där ett vittne vittnar anonymt. I min utredning kommer jag fram till att detta höjer rätts-säkerheten för den tilltalade, men att problemet med att rätten inte känner till vittnets relation till den misstänkta eller tilltalade består. I proposition-en till lagen framkommer att domstolens fria bevisvärdering ska fungera som en rättssäkerhetsgaranti för den tilltalade, även detta problematiserar jag i uppsatsen. (Less)
Abstract
This essay aims to examine how the anonymity of a witness in a criminal case might affect the court's assessment of the witness's credibility, and whether the difficulty in this may risk affecting the defendant's legal secu-rity. The essay analyses the new Act (2024:11:80) on anonymous witnesses in criminal cases (Lag (2024:1180) om anonyma vittnesmål) from a criti-cal perspective.
In the essay, I examine whether the fact that the witness is physically hid-den from the court might affect the court's assessment of his or her credi-bility. In light of the fact that the Swedish Supreme Court, supported by forensic psychology research, has stated that the interrogatee's body lan-guage and general impression of credibility should not affect... (More)
This essay aims to examine how the anonymity of a witness in a criminal case might affect the court's assessment of the witness's credibility, and whether the difficulty in this may risk affecting the defendant's legal secu-rity. The essay analyses the new Act (2024:11:80) on anonymous witnesses in criminal cases (Lag (2024:1180) om anonyma vittnesmål) from a criti-cal perspective.
In the essay, I examine whether the fact that the witness is physically hid-den from the court might affect the court's assessment of his or her credi-bility. In light of the fact that the Swedish Supreme Court, supported by forensic psychology research, has stated that the interrogatee's body lan-guage and general impression of credibility should not affect the assess-ment of the case at hand, I conclude that the new law will not significantly negatively affect the credibility assessment of anonymous witnesses. I also argue that legal security from this point of view may even be better for the defendant, as the assessment of the witness's credibility might be more objective.
In the new system, the witness is completely anonymous to the court, which means that it cannot investigate the witness's relationship to the de-fendant. I believe that this is an obstacle to the credibility assessment of the witness as the court cannot grasp his or her credibility regarding their motivations. This increases the risk that incorrect information will be in-cluded in the assessment, which jeopardizes the suspect or defendant's right to a fair trial under Art. 6 ECHR,
The new law on anonymous witnesses in criminal cases states that a public representative will be appointed in cases where a witness testifies anony-mously. In my investigation, I conclude that this increases legal security for the defendant, but that the problem of the court not knowing the wit-ness's relationship to the suspect or defendant remains. The bill to the act in question states that the court's free assessment of evidence will function as a guarantee of legal certainty for the defendant, which I problematize in the essay. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Sörman, Josefin LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20242
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Processrätt
language
Swedish
id
9179911
date added to LUP
2025-03-20 14:23:27
date last changed
2025-03-20 14:23:27
@misc{9179911,
  abstract     = {{This essay aims to examine how the anonymity of a witness in a criminal case might affect the court's assessment of the witness's credibility, and whether the difficulty in this may risk affecting the defendant's legal secu-rity. The essay analyses the new Act (2024:11:80) on anonymous witnesses in criminal cases (Lag (2024:1180) om anonyma vittnesmål) from a criti-cal perspective.
In the essay, I examine whether the fact that the witness is physically hid-den from the court might affect the court's assessment of his or her credi-bility. In light of the fact that the Swedish Supreme Court, supported by forensic psychology research, has stated that the interrogatee's body lan-guage and general impression of credibility should not affect the assess-ment of the case at hand, I conclude that the new law will not significantly negatively affect the credibility assessment of anonymous witnesses. I also argue that legal security from this point of view may even be better for the defendant, as the assessment of the witness's credibility might be more objective.
In the new system, the witness is completely anonymous to the court, which means that it cannot investigate the witness's relationship to the de-fendant. I believe that this is an obstacle to the credibility assessment of the witness as the court cannot grasp his or her credibility regarding their motivations. This increases the risk that incorrect information will be in-cluded in the assessment, which jeopardizes the suspect or defendant's right to a fair trial under Art. 6 ECHR,
The new law on anonymous witnesses in criminal cases states that a public representative will be appointed in cases where a witness testifies anony-mously. In my investigation, I conclude that this increases legal security for the defendant, but that the problem of the court not knowing the wit-ness's relationship to the suspect or defendant remains. The bill to the act in question states that the court's free assessment of evidence will function as a guarantee of legal certainty for the defendant, which I problematize in the essay.}},
  author       = {{Sörman, Josefin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Rättssäkerheten på hal is: Trovärdighetsbedömningen av anonyma vittnen i brottsmål}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}