This section provides you with an overview of the legal professions in Sweden Prosecutors Judges Barristers/Advocates Notaries Other legal professions
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The public prosecution service consists of the Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten) and the Economic Crimes Authority (Ekobrottsmyndigheten). Both authorities answer directly to the Government (Ministry of Justice). The Prosecution Authority is headed by the Prosecutor-General and the Economic Crimes Authority by a Director-General. The Prosecutor-General (Riksåklagare) is the highest-ranking prosecutor in the country and is responsible for and heads the prosecution service.
The Prosecutor-General is responsible for legal development, the operations of the Supreme Court, and administrative tasks. Senior prosecutors are responsible for particular areas of the prosecution service. Public prosecutors are appointed by the Prosecutor-General, and are organised into prosecution districts staffed by district prosecutors. Some district prosecutors are specialists in a particular field. There are 32 district prosecution offices. There are also three international and four nationwide prosecution offices, which handle special types of case. Each district prosecution office is headed by a Chief Prosecutor.
All prosecutors within the Prosecution Service are completely independent in their decision-making, which means that a senior prosecutor may not decide what decisions a subordinate prosecutor may make in a case for which the subordinate is responsible. To become a prosecutor you must have Swedish citizenship. Before you can be accepted as a prosecutor you must also have obtained a Swedish law degree and completed a period of practical legal training, working for two years as a clerk at a district court or administrative court. In certain circumstances, legal training in another Scandinavian country can be regarded as equivalent to a law degree. Prosecutors are first taken on as trainee prosecutors for nine months, during which the prosecutor has a mentor to guide him or her in the work. After this, the prosecutor undergoes a two-year course of training while working as a prosecutor, before being appointed District Prosecutor.
There are three prosecution development centres, situated in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, which are headed by a Senior Prosecutor. The task of the development centres is to conduct methodology and legal development work within their respective criminal fields, and act as knowledge centres in their areas of responsibility. They also carry out legal follow-up and supervision; an example of this is that all appeals against decisions by prosecutors are handled by the development centres.
A prosecutor has three main duties:
The prosecutor heads the preliminary investigation for crimes that are not regarded as minor, in which a particular person can reasonably be suspected of the crime. A prosecutor may lead an investigation in other cases too, if there are special grounds for doing so. As leader of the preliminary investigation, the prosecutor is responsible for ensuring that the crime is investigated in an optimal way. For less serious crimes, the investigation is handled entirely by police officers.
When a prosecutor is leading the preliminary investigation, he or she is assisted in the investigation by the police. The prosecutor continually monitors the investigation and makes decisions about the investigative measures and decisions required. When the preliminary investigation is complete, the prosecutor decides whether or not to initiate legal proceedings. (This also applies to the preliminary investigations for which the police are responsible.)
Another important aspect of the prosecutor's work is the preparation of cases and appearance in court. Through the decision to bring charges, and the prosecutor's description of the crime, the prosecutor sets the framework for the criminal proceedings in court. Most prosecutors spend at least one or two days a week in court.
The Prosecutor-General is the only prosecutor allowed to instigate or pursue proceedings in the Supreme Court. He or she may, however, appoint an assistant prosecutor at the Office of the Prosecutor-General, or appoint another public prosecutor to represent the Prosecutor-General in the Supreme Court.
More information on prosecutors is publicly accessible at the Prosecution Authority website.
Permanent judges (ordinarie domare) are appointed by the Government on the recommendation of an independent state advisory body, the Judges Proposals Board (Domarnämnden). In principle, a judge cannot be dismissed other than in the circumstances set out in the constitutional document known as the Instrument of Government (regeringsformen).
To become a judge you must have Swedish citizenship. To be allowed to serve as a judge you must also have a Swedish law degree. In certain circumstances, legal training in another Scandinavian country can be regarded as equivalent to a law degree. Most permanent judges work as district court or administrative court judges, or as judges at courts of appeal or administrative courts of appeal. The president of a court of appeal or administrative court of appeal is known as the president, and the president of a district court or administrative court is known as the lagman. Judges of the Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court are known as justices (justitieråd).
Many of those appointed as permanent judges have followed a traditional career path during which they spend two years as a clerk at a district court (329 Kb)
or an administrative court
(281 Kb)
and then apply to become a reporting clerk (fiskal) at a court of appeal or administrative court of appeal. After at least one year at such a court, a trainee judge must serve for at least two years as a reporting clerk at a district court or an administrative court. This is followed by at least one year's service as an acting associate judge at a court of appeal or administrative court of appeal. After successfully completing and passing the course, the trainee judge is appointed associate judge of appeal at a court of appeal or administrative court of appeal. Reporting clerks and associate judges are examples of judges without permanent tenure who can appear in courts. The courts also employ a number of drafting lawyers
(280 Kb)
and rapporteurs
(281 Kb)
.
District courts, courts of appeal, administrative courts and administrative courts of appeal all have a number of lay judges (nämndemän). The lay judges are appointed for a term of four years by
For more information on judges and lay judges, see the Swedish courts’ website. For judges in particular, see the website of the Swedish Judges’ Association.
Under Swedish law, only members of the Swedish Bar Association (Sveriges Advokatsamfund) are entitled to use the professional title advokat (‘barrister’ or ‘advocate’). To become a member of the Association, a person must:
More information is available at the Swedish Bar Association website.
There is no requirement for the legal counsel in court proceedings to be a barrister, but the court must consider the legal counsel to be suitable. In principle, however, only advocates are appointed public defence counsel.
Besides the Notary Public (see below), there are no special notaries in Sweden.
A notary public is appointed by the County Administrative Board (länsstyrelsen). A notary public must be legally qualified, know the Swedish language and be otherwise suitable.
There is no publicly available directory and/or website for this profession.
Some of the County Administrative Boards' websites, however, contain more information on notaries public.
The function of the notary public is to assist the public in various matters, such as:
There is no publicly available directory and/or website for this profession.
Some of the County Administrative Boards' websites, however, contain more information on notaries public.
The Enforcement Authority (Kronofogdemyndigheten) is responsible for the enforcement of debt recovery and other obligations. An enforcement officer (kronofogde) is employed by the Authority and is responsible for ensuring that recovery takes place lawfully. It is possible to train as an enforcement officer in Sweden. To be accepted for training you must be a Swedish citizen, have obtained a law degree or comparable qualification and be a qualified court clerk (notarie). It is also possible to replace the qualification as a court clerk with a specifically determined period of in-service training or a dispensation procedure.
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