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Barnfridsbrottet - en analys av hovrätternas bedömning i fråga om rekvisitet bevittna

Lindström, Beatrice LU (2024) LAGF03 20242
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
The child protection offense was introduced into Swedish law in 2021, with
a strong legal policy perspective - to protect and strengthen the position of
children who were forced to witness violence between close persons. Prior to
the entry into force of the provision in Swedish law, there was no other
protection. For this reason, this is briefly described throughout the paper, to
give the reader an understanding of how the provision has made a difference.
The inquiry into the legislation emphasized that children who witness acts of
violence can have life-threatening consequences for the child's development,
among other things. An influential factor in the introduction of the crime was
the Convention on the Rights of the Child,... (More)
The child protection offense was introduced into Swedish law in 2021, with
a strong legal policy perspective - to protect and strengthen the position of
children who were forced to witness violence between close persons. Prior to
the entry into force of the provision in Swedish law, there was no other
protection. For this reason, this is briefly described throughout the paper, to
give the reader an understanding of how the provision has made a difference.
The inquiry into the legislation emphasized that children who witness acts of
violence can have life-threatening consequences for the child's development,
among other things. An influential factor in the introduction of the crime was
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is now part of Swedish law.
The crime of child cruelty is found in Chapter 4, Section 3 of the Criminal
Code (1962:700), BrB. The offence specifically states that it is criminalized
to allow children to witness certain specified acts of violence between close
relatives. This means that it is a criminal offense to allow a child to see and/or
hear all or part of a principal offense listed in the provision. The requirement
of witnessing became a subject of discussion in the preparatory work for the
legislative provision, and several commentators returned with their views. In
the end, the government decided, from a legality perspective, to use the
criterion witnessing anyway.
The paper examines, in the light of the above findings, how the courts of
appeal follow and apply the requirement of witnessing. A comparison is made
with how the Government has stated that the concept should be interpreted
and used. This comparison is made with the help of the so-called legal-
dogmatic method. The selection of court cases has been made from 2024.
It can be stated with certainty that the crime has in fact strengthened the legal
position of children. Within the framework of the paper, it is also shown that
many of the Court of Appeal cases that have been the subject of review
interpret and comply with the requirement as the preparatory works prescribe
that it should be interpreted. In several of the cases, however, the courts of
appeal have interpreted the concept considerably more narrowly, which is
why it can be argued differently in relation to the prepatory work. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Barnfridsbrottet infördes i svensk rätt år 2021, med ett starkt rättspolitiskt
motiverat perspektiv – att skydda och stärka ställningen för barn som
tvingades bevittna våld mellan närståendepersoner. Innan bestämmelsen
trädde i kraft i svensk lagstiftning fanns det inte något annat skydd. Av den
anledningen redogörs detta kort för genom uppsatsen, för att ge läsaren en
förståelse om hur bestämmelsen gjort skillnad. Utredningen till
lagstiftningen tryckte på att barn som blir föremål för bevittnande av
våldshandlingar kan få livshotande konsekvenser för bland annat barnets
utveckling. En påverkande faktor till brottets införande var
Barnkonventionen, som numera är en del av svensk lag.
Barnfridsbrottet återfinns i 4 kap. 3 §... (More)
Barnfridsbrottet infördes i svensk rätt år 2021, med ett starkt rättspolitiskt
motiverat perspektiv – att skydda och stärka ställningen för barn som
tvingades bevittna våld mellan närståendepersoner. Innan bestämmelsen
trädde i kraft i svensk lagstiftning fanns det inte något annat skydd. Av den
anledningen redogörs detta kort för genom uppsatsen, för att ge läsaren en
förståelse om hur bestämmelsen gjort skillnad. Utredningen till
lagstiftningen tryckte på att barn som blir föremål för bevittnande av
våldshandlingar kan få livshotande konsekvenser för bland annat barnets
utveckling. En påverkande faktor till brottets införande var
Barnkonventionen, som numera är en del av svensk lag.
Barnfridsbrottet återfinns i 4 kap. 3 § brottsbalken (1962:700), BrB.
Brottsrubriceringen stadgar särskilt att det är kriminaliserat att låta barn
bevittna vissa särskilt angivna våldshandlingar mellan närstående. Det
innebär att det är straffbelagt att låta barn se och/eller höra, hela eller delar
av, ett huvudbrott som räknas upp i bestämmelsen. Rekvisitet bevittna blev
en diskussion i förarbetena till lagbestämmelsen och flera remissinstanser
återkom med synpunkter. Regeringen bestämde till slut att, ur ett
legalitetsperspektiv, använda rekvisitet bevittna ändå.
Uppsatsen undersöker, mot bakgrund av vad ovan konstaterat, hur
hovrätterna efterföljer och tillämpar rekvisitet bevittna. Här görs en
jämförelse med hur regeringen uttalat att begreppet ska tolkas och användas.
Denna jämförelse görs med hjälp av den så kallade rättsdogmatiska
metoden. Urvalet av rättsfall har gjorts från 2024.
Det går med säkerhet att konstatera att brottet faktiskt gett barn en stärkt
rättslig ställning. Inom ramen för uppsatsen förevisas också att många av
hovrättsfallen som varit föremål för granskning tolkar och efterföljer
rekvisitet som förarbetena föreskriver att det ska tolkas. I flera av fallen har
hovrätterna dock tolkat begreppet betydligt mer snävt, varför det kan
argumenteras avvikande relaterat till propositionen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lindström, Beatrice LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20242
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
straffrätt, criminal law, barnfridsbrottet
language
Swedish
id
9180293
date added to LUP
2025-03-20 14:02:13
date last changed
2025-03-20 14:02:13
@misc{9180293,
  abstract     = {{The child protection offense was introduced into Swedish law in 2021, with
a strong legal policy perspective - to protect and strengthen the position of
children who were forced to witness violence between close persons. Prior to
the entry into force of the provision in Swedish law, there was no other
protection. For this reason, this is briefly described throughout the paper, to
give the reader an understanding of how the provision has made a difference.
The inquiry into the legislation emphasized that children who witness acts of
violence can have life-threatening consequences for the child's development,
among other things. An influential factor in the introduction of the crime was
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is now part of Swedish law.
The crime of child cruelty is found in Chapter 4, Section 3 of the Criminal
Code (1962:700), BrB. The offence specifically states that it is criminalized
to allow children to witness certain specified acts of violence between close
relatives. This means that it is a criminal offense to allow a child to see and/or
hear all or part of a principal offense listed in the provision. The requirement
of witnessing became a subject of discussion in the preparatory work for the
legislative provision, and several commentators returned with their views. In
the end, the government decided, from a legality perspective, to use the
criterion witnessing anyway.
The paper examines, in the light of the above findings, how the courts of
appeal follow and apply the requirement of witnessing. A comparison is made
with how the Government has stated that the concept should be interpreted
and used. This comparison is made with the help of the so-called legal-
dogmatic method. The selection of court cases has been made from 2024.
It can be stated with certainty that the crime has in fact strengthened the legal
position of children. Within the framework of the paper, it is also shown that
many of the Court of Appeal cases that have been the subject of review
interpret and comply with the requirement as the preparatory works prescribe
that it should be interpreted. In several of the cases, however, the courts of
appeal have interpreted the concept considerably more narrowly, which is
why it can be argued differently in relation to the prepatory work.}},
  author       = {{Lindström, Beatrice}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Barnfridsbrottet - en analys av hovrätternas bedömning i fråga om rekvisitet bevittna}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}