Brottsoffer eller gärningsperson? Kriminalisering av deltagande i kriminella sammanslutningar och betydelsen för unga lagöverträdare i åldern 15–17 år
(2025) JURM02 20252Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- År 2025 presenterades SOU 2025:2 Några frågor om grundläggande fri- och rättigheter, där en kommitté fick i uppdrag att bland annat utreda om ökade möjligheter bör införas för att begränsa föreningsfriheten i förhållande till kriminella sammanslutningar. Kommittén drog slutsatsen att sådana möjligheter bör införas, och några månader senare presenterades kommittédirektiv 2025:28 Kriminalisering av deltagande i kriminella sammanslutningar, där en särskild utredare ges i uppdrag att utreda och lämna förslag om straffansvar för deltagande i en kriminell sammanslutning.
Brottsförebyggande rådet publicerade år 2023 en rapport som behandlar hur barn rekryteras till och behandlas efter att de rekryterats till kriminella nätverk. Rapporten visar... (More) - År 2025 presenterades SOU 2025:2 Några frågor om grundläggande fri- och rättigheter, där en kommitté fick i uppdrag att bland annat utreda om ökade möjligheter bör införas för att begränsa föreningsfriheten i förhållande till kriminella sammanslutningar. Kommittén drog slutsatsen att sådana möjligheter bör införas, och några månader senare presenterades kommittédirektiv 2025:28 Kriminalisering av deltagande i kriminella sammanslutningar, där en särskild utredare ges i uppdrag att utreda och lämna förslag om straffansvar för deltagande i en kriminell sammanslutning.
Brottsförebyggande rådet publicerade år 2023 en rapport som behandlar hur barn rekryteras till och behandlas efter att de rekryterats till kriminella nätverk. Rapporten visar att barn som rekryteras ofta befinner sig i en utsatt situation och att rekryteringen i många fall sker genom hot och våld. Tillvägagångssättet kan i flera avseenden liknas vid sexuell grooming. Brå:s rapport väckte intresset att undersöka vilka rättsliga problem som kan uppstå för de barn som involveras i kriminella sammanslutningar och har på så sätt inspirerat till uppatsens frågeställning: Är en kriminalisering av deltagande i kriminella sammanslutningar rättsligt godtagbar utifrån hur en sådan lagstiftning riskerar att påverka de barn som är aktiva i ifrågavarande brottslighet?
För att undersöka vilka rättsliga problem som kan uppstå vid en kriminalisering tillämpas flera analytiska verktyg. Undersökningen har ett tydligt barnrättsperspektiv, vilket ibland annat innebär att lagstiftning och dess tillämpning måste stå i överensstämmelse med barnkonventionen. Uppsatsen analyserar därför hur en kriminalisering av deltagande i kriminella sammanslutningar förhåller sig till några centrala bestämmelser i barnkonventionen. Vidare tillämpas analytiska verktyg som kravet på att ett rättsystem bör vara koherent, teorin om det idealiska offret samt straffrättens skuldprincip. Därutöver behandlas frågan om barn som reryteras till kriminella nätverk i juridisk mening kan betraktas som brottsoffer.
För att besvara frågeställningen tillämpas, utöver den rättsdogmatiska metoden, ett kritiskt angreppssätt. Undersökningen kan beskrivas som ett ”akademiskt remissvar”, i likhet med det som Barnombudsmannen skulle kunna skriva i egenskap av remissinstans.
Undersökningen visar att det finns flera skäl till att en kriminalisering av deltagande i kriminella sammanslutningar inte är rättsligt godtagbar utifrån de analytiska verktyg som tillämpas. Barn som rekryteras till brottslighet kan i många fall betraktas som brottsoffer, vilket innebär att de omfattas av såväl nationellt som internationellt skydd. Vidare riskerar en kriminalisering att komma i konflikt med flera centrala bestämmelser i barnkonventionen. Analysen visar att dessa barn inte motsvarar bilden av det idealiska offret, samtidigt som deras straffrättsliga ansvar kan ifrågasättas utifrån skuldprincipen (Less) - Abstract
- In 2025, the government presented the report SOU 2025:2, Some Issues Concerning Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which tasked a committee with, among other matters, examining whether the freedom of association should be restricted in relation to criminal organizations. The committee concluded that such measures should be introduced and a few months later Directive 2025:28, Criminalization of Participation in Criminal Organiza-tions, was presented assigning a special investigator the task of examining and proposing criminal liability for participation in a criminal organization.
In 2023, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) pub-lished a report addressing how children are recruited into (and treated after being recruited... (More) - In 2025, the government presented the report SOU 2025:2, Some Issues Concerning Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which tasked a committee with, among other matters, examining whether the freedom of association should be restricted in relation to criminal organizations. The committee concluded that such measures should be introduced and a few months later Directive 2025:28, Criminalization of Participation in Criminal Organiza-tions, was presented assigning a special investigator the task of examining and proposing criminal liability for participation in a criminal organization.
In 2023, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) pub-lished a report addressing how children are recruited into (and treated after being recruited into) criminal networks. The report shows that children who are recruited often find themselves in vulnerable situations and that recruit-ment in many cases takes place through threats and violence. In several as-pects, the methods resemble sexual grooming. Brå’s report generated interest in examining the legal issues that may arise for the children involved in crim-inal organizations and has inspired the research question of this thesis: Is the criminalization of participation in criminal organizations legally acceptable considering how such legislation risks affecting the children who are active in the criminal activity in question?
To examine the legal issues that may arise from such criminalization, several analytical tools are applied. The study adopts a clear child rights perspective, which, inter alia, entails that legislation and its application must be con-sistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The thesis there-fore analyzes how a criminalization of participation in criminal organizations relates to several central provisions of the Convention. Furthermore, addi-tional analytical tools are applied, such as the requirement that a legal system should be coherent, the theory of the ideal victim, and the principle of cul-pability in criminal law. In addition, the question of whether children re-cruited into criminal networks can, in legal terms, be regarded as victims of crime is addressed.
In order to answer the research question, a critical approach is applied along-side the legal dogmatic method. The study may be described as an “academ-ic referral response,” similar to what the Ombudsman for Children (BO) could submit in its capacity as a consultative body.
The study shows that there are several reasons why a criminalization of par-ticipation in criminal organizations is not legally acceptable from a child rights perspective. Children who are recruited into criminal activity can in many cases be regarded as victims of crime, which means that they are af-forded protection under both national and international law. Such criminali-zation risks conflicting with several key provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The analysis further shows that these children do not correspond to the image of the ideal victim, while at the same time, their criminal liability may be questioned on the basis of the principle of culpabil-ity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9216603
- author
- Andréewitch, Nora LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Victim or perpetrator? The criminalization of participation in criminal organizations and its significance for young offenders aged 15–17
- course
- JURM02 20252
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- straffrätt, barnkonventionen, brottsoffer, kriminell sammanslutning
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9216603
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-14 14:15:07
- date last changed
- 2026-01-14 14:15:07
@misc{9216603,
abstract = {{In 2025, the government presented the report SOU 2025:2, Some Issues Concerning Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which tasked a committee with, among other matters, examining whether the freedom of association should be restricted in relation to criminal organizations. The committee concluded that such measures should be introduced and a few months later Directive 2025:28, Criminalization of Participation in Criminal Organiza-tions, was presented assigning a special investigator the task of examining and proposing criminal liability for participation in a criminal organization.
In 2023, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) pub-lished a report addressing how children are recruited into (and treated after being recruited into) criminal networks. The report shows that children who are recruited often find themselves in vulnerable situations and that recruit-ment in many cases takes place through threats and violence. In several as-pects, the methods resemble sexual grooming. Brå’s report generated interest in examining the legal issues that may arise for the children involved in crim-inal organizations and has inspired the research question of this thesis: Is the criminalization of participation in criminal organizations legally acceptable considering how such legislation risks affecting the children who are active in the criminal activity in question?
To examine the legal issues that may arise from such criminalization, several analytical tools are applied. The study adopts a clear child rights perspective, which, inter alia, entails that legislation and its application must be con-sistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The thesis there-fore analyzes how a criminalization of participation in criminal organizations relates to several central provisions of the Convention. Furthermore, addi-tional analytical tools are applied, such as the requirement that a legal system should be coherent, the theory of the ideal victim, and the principle of cul-pability in criminal law. In addition, the question of whether children re-cruited into criminal networks can, in legal terms, be regarded as victims of crime is addressed.
In order to answer the research question, a critical approach is applied along-side the legal dogmatic method. The study may be described as an “academ-ic referral response,” similar to what the Ombudsman for Children (BO) could submit in its capacity as a consultative body.
The study shows that there are several reasons why a criminalization of par-ticipation in criminal organizations is not legally acceptable from a child rights perspective. Children who are recruited into criminal activity can in many cases be regarded as victims of crime, which means that they are af-forded protection under both national and international law. Such criminali-zation risks conflicting with several key provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The analysis further shows that these children do not correspond to the image of the ideal victim, while at the same time, their criminal liability may be questioned on the basis of the principle of culpabil-ity.}},
author = {{Andréewitch, Nora}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Brottsoffer eller gärningsperson? Kriminalisering av deltagande i kriminella sammanslutningar och betydelsen för unga lagöverträdare i åldern 15–17 år}},
year = {{2025}},
}