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Barnets berättelse utom rätta - Om bevisvärdering av barns utsagor i sexualbrottmål vid avsteg från muntlighet och omedelbarhet

Hård af Segerstad, Ebba LU (2025) LAGF03 20252
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Sexualbrott mot barn utgör en särskilt komplex kategori av brottmål där be-visningen ofta i huvudsak består av barnets utsaga. För att skydda barnet från ytterligare psykisk påfrestning härs barnet i regel inte muntligen inför rätten, utan utsagan förebringas genom videoförhör från förundersökningen. Denna ordning innebär avsteg från principerna om muntlighet och omedelbarhet vilka normalt utgör centrala garantier för en tillförlitlig bevisvärdering.
Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera hur domstolar värderar barns utsagor i sexualbrottsmål när utsagan inte lämnas muntligen inför rätten, samt att under-söka vilka rättsäkerhetsmässiga problem som uppstår i avvägningen mellan barnets skydd och den tilltalades rättigheter. Särskilt fokus... (More)
Sexualbrott mot barn utgör en särskilt komplex kategori av brottmål där be-visningen ofta i huvudsak består av barnets utsaga. För att skydda barnet från ytterligare psykisk påfrestning härs barnet i regel inte muntligen inför rätten, utan utsagan förebringas genom videoförhör från förundersökningen. Denna ordning innebär avsteg från principerna om muntlighet och omedelbarhet vilka normalt utgör centrala garantier för en tillförlitlig bevisvärdering.
Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera hur domstolar värderar barns utsagor i sexualbrottsmål när utsagan inte lämnas muntligen inför rätten, samt att under-söka vilka rättsäkerhetsmässiga problem som uppstår i avvägningen mellan barnets skydd och den tilltalades rättigheter. Särskilt fokus ligger på hur av-stegen från muntlighet och omedelbarhet påverkar utsagans bevisvärde och möjligheterna att uppfylla beviskravet ”utom rimligt tvivel”.
Uppsatsen bygger på en rättsdogmatisk metod med inslag av kritisk analys. Genomgången av rättspraxis från Högsta domstolen visar att presentations-formen i praktiken har stor betydelse för bevisvärderingen. När barns utsagor förebringas genom videoförhör saknas möjligheten att ställa följdfrågor och reda ut oklarheter under huvudförhandlingen, vilket i sin tur negativt kan på-verka domstolarnas bevisvärdering av barnets berättelse. Detta leder ofta till att domstolen ställer höga krav på stödbevisning för att kompensera begräs-ningarna i utsagan.
Slutsatsen är att den nuvarande ordningen, med videoförhör, försämrar bar-nets rättstrygghet på bekostnad av den tilltalades rättssäkerhet. Utmaningen ligger inte i beviskravet som sådant utan i svårigheten att pröva barns utsagor på ett sätt som fullt ut motsvarar beviskravets förutsättningar. (Less)
Abstract
Sexual offences against children constitute a particularly complex category of criminal cases, in which the evidence often consists primarily of the child´s statement. In order to protect the child from further psychological strain, the child is generally not heard orally before the court. Instead, the statement is presented through video-recorded interviews from the preliminary investigat-ion. The procedural arrangement entails departures from the principles of ora-lity and immediacy, which normally constitute central safeguards for reliable evaluation of evidence.
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how courts assess children´s state-ments in sexual offence cases when the statement is not delivered orally be-fore the court, and to... (More)
Sexual offences against children constitute a particularly complex category of criminal cases, in which the evidence often consists primarily of the child´s statement. In order to protect the child from further psychological strain, the child is generally not heard orally before the court. Instead, the statement is presented through video-recorded interviews from the preliminary investigat-ion. The procedural arrangement entails departures from the principles of ora-lity and immediacy, which normally constitute central safeguards for reliable evaluation of evidence.
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how courts assess children´s state-ments in sexual offence cases when the statement is not delivered orally be-fore the court, and to examine the rule-of-law challenges that arise in balan-cing the child´s need for protection against the rights of the accused. Particular attention is given to how departures from orality and immediacy affect the evidentiary value of the statement and the ability to satisfy the standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
The thesis is based on a legal-dogmatic method combined with elements of critical analysis. The examination of case law from the Supreme Court de-monstrates that the mode of presentation is of significant practical importance for the assessment of evidence. When children´s statements are presented through video-recorded interviews, the opportunity to ask follow-up quest-ions and clarify ambiguities during the main hearing is absent, which results in uncertainties in the narrative having a greater impact on the evidentiary as-sessment. This often leads courts to impose high requirements for corrobora-tive evidence.
The conclusion is that the current procedural framework consistently priori-tises the legal certainty of the accused in accordance with the presumption of innocence, while simultaneously posing a challenge to the child´s legal pro-tection. The challenge does not lie in the standard of proof as such, but in the difficulty of assessing children´s statements in a manner that fully corre-sponds to the requirements inherent in that standard. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Hård af Segerstad, Ebba LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20252
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Processrätt, Straffrätt, Bevisvärdering, Sexualbrottmål, Utsagor
language
Swedish
id
9217035
date added to LUP
2026-02-09 15:10:33
date last changed
2026-02-09 15:10:33
@misc{9217035,
  abstract     = {{Sexual offences against children constitute a particularly complex category of criminal cases, in which the evidence often consists primarily of the child´s statement. In order to protect the child from further psychological strain, the child is generally not heard orally before the court. Instead, the statement is presented through video-recorded interviews from the preliminary investigat-ion. The procedural arrangement entails departures from the principles of ora-lity and immediacy, which normally constitute central safeguards for reliable evaluation of evidence. 
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how courts assess children´s state-ments in sexual offence cases when the statement is not delivered orally be-fore the court, and to examine the rule-of-law challenges that arise in balan-cing the child´s need for protection against the rights of the accused. Particular attention is given to how departures from orality and immediacy affect the evidentiary value of the statement and the ability to satisfy the standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt. 
The thesis is based on a legal-dogmatic method combined with elements of critical analysis. The examination of case law from the Supreme Court de-monstrates that the mode of presentation is of significant practical importance for the assessment of evidence. When children´s statements are presented through video-recorded interviews, the opportunity to ask follow-up quest-ions and clarify ambiguities during the main hearing is absent, which results in uncertainties in the narrative having a greater impact on the evidentiary as-sessment. This often leads courts to impose high requirements for corrobora-tive evidence.
The conclusion is that the current procedural framework consistently priori-tises the legal certainty of the accused in accordance with the presumption of innocence, while simultaneously posing a challenge to the child´s legal pro-tection. The challenge does not lie in the standard of proof as such, but in the difficulty of assessing children´s statements in a manner that fully corre-sponds to the requirements inherent in that standard.}},
  author       = {{Hård af Segerstad, Ebba}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Barnets berättelse utom rätta - Om bevisvärdering av barns utsagor i sexualbrottmål vid avsteg från muntlighet och omedelbarhet}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}