Legal System & Public Order in Sweden

Sweden has independent courts

Sweden's courts (domstolar) are independent from the government and the Riksdag. Judges decide cases based on the law, not on political instructions. This separation of powers is a core principle in regeringsformen.

There are two parallel court hierarchies:

• General courts — handle criminal and civil cases: tingsrätt (district court) → hovrätt (court of appeal) → Högsta domstolen (Supreme Court).
• Administrative courts — handle disputes between people and authorities (e.g. tax, social benefits, migration): förvaltningsrätt → kammarrätt → Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen.

Police and public prosecutors

The Police Authority (Polismyndigheten) investigates crimes, keeps public order, and helps people in emergencies. Police officers in Sweden carry firearms but are trained to use them only when strictly necessary.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten) employs the åklagare, who lead serious investigations together with the police and decide whether to take a case to court. The åklagare must charge someone if there is enough evidence — this is called the duty to prosecute.

Your rights if you're suspected of a crime

If you're suspected of a crime in Sweden you have several rights, set out in law and inspired by international human rights standards:

• Presumption of innocence — you are innocent until a court has found you guilty.
• Right to remain silent — you do not have to answer questions or say anything that could incriminate you.
• Right to a defence lawyer — for serious crimes, the court appoints a public defence lawyer (offentlig försvarare) paid by the state.
• Right to an interpreter if you don't understand Swedish.
• Right to know what you're suspected of and to see the evidence against you.

Criminal cases vs civil cases

Criminal cases (brottmål) deal with offences against the state — like theft, assault, drunk driving, fraud. The åklagare brings the case on behalf of society. Civil cases (tvistemål) are disputes between private parties — for example over a contract, an unpaid debt, or custody of a child. There the parties themselves drive the case forward.

Crimes are also commonly grouped into crimes against persons (assault, threats, harassment, sexual offences) and crimes against property (theft, burglary, criminal damage).

Penalties in Sweden

Common penalties under Swedish criminal law include:

• Fines (böter) — most common, often as day-fines (dagsböter) tied to the offender's income.
• Imprisonment (fängelse) — from 14 days up to life. Sweden has no death penalty (abolished 1921 for civilian crimes).
• Probation (skyddstillsyn) — supervised conditional sentence.
• Community service (samhällstjänst) — unpaid work for a non-profit or public organisation.
• Conditional sentence (villkorlig dom) — guilty verdict but no prison if you stay out of trouble.

Reporting crimes and emergencies

Call 112 for genuine emergencies — police, ambulance, fire, or coastguard. The 112 operator speaks Swedish and English and can connect interpreters for many other languages.

For non-urgent matters call 114 14 or visit polisen.se to file a report (anmälan). You can also report many crimes online. Filing a false report is itself a crime.

What else is on the test?

Legal System & Public Order is just one of 20 topic areas covered on the medborgarskapsprovet. The other 19 cover democracy, fundamental laws, history, healthcare, education, work, taxes, housing, geography, integration, and Swedish values. See the full topic list →