Evaluation of the Preventive Act

The plan rejects special terrorism legislation, guards personal integrity and fundamental rule-of-law principles and wants to counteract growing surveillance and registration. A thorough and prompt evaluation of preventive coercive measures against the proportionality principle, the European Convention, and integrity is precisely the scrutiny the plan presupposes. A five-year limit appears against the plan's commitments as far too permissive.

• against special terrorism legislationdecisive»avvisar en särskild terroristlagstiftning« (party programme ↗)“rejects special terrorism legislation”
• personal integrityweak support»Alla människor har rätt till en bred privat sfär« (party programme ↗)“All people have a right to a broad private sphere”
• rule-of-law principles»personliga integriteten och fundamentala principer i en rättsstat« (party programme ↗)“personal integrity and fundamental principles in a state governed by law”
• presumption of innocence»anses oskyldiga tills motsatsen är bevisad« (party programme ↗)“are presumed innocent until proven otherwise”

flags: citat_svagt

The plan's stated line is that the police should have more tools, including better possibilities for wiretapping, and that the fight against crime should be uncompromising. The counter-proposal assumes that legislation is too intrusive and demands earlier and more comprehensive review of it, which runs counter to the plan's direction. The party programme's requirement to protect personal integrity pulls in the other direction, which is why the assessment is uncertain.

• more tools for the policedecisive»Kraftigt öka antalet poliser på våra gator och torg. Vi vill säkra och stärka polisnärvaron i hela landet. Polisen behöver också fler verktyg, som bättre möjligheter till avlyssning och husrannsakan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Greatly increase the number of police on our streets and squares. We want to secure and strengthen police presence throughout the country. The police also need more tools, such as better possibilities for wiretapping and house searches.”
• uncompromising crime-fighting»Kampen mot kriminaliteten ska vara kompromisslös. Samhällets fulla kraft ska mobiliseras för att trycka tillbaka de kriminella, kapa återväxten in i kriminaliteten och öka tryggheten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The fight against crime must be uncompromising. Society's full force must be mobilized to push back the criminals, cut regrowth into crime and increase security.”
• protection of personal integrity»Det är samhällets absoluta skyldighet att skydda friheten och den personliga integriteten« (party programme ↗)“It is society's absolute obligation to protect freedom and personal integrity”

The plan opposes all laws that constitute disproportionate intrusions into privacy and requires that policy protects people's privacy as surveillance capabilities increase. The counter-proposal's requirement for a thorough and prompt evaluation against the principle of proportionality, the European Convention and personal privacy is a direct consequence of that commitment. The plan also establishes that crime prevention must not be conducted at the expense of human rights and that citizens must always be able to scrutinize power.

• against disproportionate intrusionsdecisive»alla lagar som innebär oproportionerliga ingrepp i« (party programme ↗)“all laws that constitute disproportionate intrusions into”
• protect privacy in surveillance»kräver att politiken slår vakt om människors« (party programme ↗)“requires that policy protects people's”
• crime prevention within human rights»viktigt men ska inte ske på bekostnad av mänskliga« (party programme ↗)“important but must not be conducted at the expense of human”
• scrutiny of power»kunna granska makten.« (party programme ↗)“be able to scrutinize power.”

The plan explicitly says no to preventive tapping and requires that the rule of law and the individual's rights against the state be defended. All legislation should be assessed against its impact on personal integrity and there must be proportionality between the restriction and the purpose. A swift and thorough evaluation of preventive legislation against the proportionality principle and the European Convention directly follows from these commitments.

• no to preventive tappingdecisive»Rättsstaten och individens rättigheter gentemot staten måste försvaras. Vi säger därför nej till visitationszoner, kollektiv bestraffning, omvänd bevisbörda, anonyma vittnen, preventiv avlyssning och inskränkningar av religionsfriheten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The rule of law and individuals' rights against the state must be defended. We therefore say no to search zones, collective punishment, reversed burden of proof, anonymous witnesses, preventive tapping and restrictions on freedom of religion.”
• proportionality requirementweak support»All lagstiftning bör prövas mot dess påverkan på människors personliga integritet. Det måste finnas en proportionalitet mellan lagstiftningens inskränkning av medborgarnas integritet och lagarnas syfte.« (party programme ↗)“All legislation should be assessed against its impact on people's personal integrity. There must be proportionality between the legislation's restriction of citizens' integrity and the legislation's purpose.”
• strong integrity protection»Ett starkt integritetsskydd är därför en omistlig del av ett öppet och demokratiskt samhälle.« (party programme ↗)“Strong integrity protection is therefore an essential part of an open and democratic society.”
• rights assessment of legislation»En författningsdomstol är viktig för att värna bland annat dessa rättigheter.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A constitutional court is important to value among other things these rights.”

flags: citat_svagt

The plan requires that protection for the individual's privacy be strengthened, that all new legislative proposals be analysed from a privacy perspective and that already-implemented laws with strong privacy impact be regularly evaluated. Intrusive measures are according to the plan justified only if a countervailing interest weighs demonstrably heavier and the measure is effective — which can only be determined through evaluation. The counter-proposal's requirement for thorough and early evaluation is therefore the plan's own stance, even though the plan in substance wants to expand the secret coercive measures.

• evaluate privacy-sensitive lawsdecisive»integriteten ska regelbundet utvärderas.« (party programme ↗)“privacy shall be regularly evaluated.”
• proportionality assessment»är endast berättigade om ett motstående intresse väger uppenbart tyngre och åtgärden är effektiv.« (party programme ↗)“are justified only if a countervailing interest weighs demonstrably heavier and the measure is effective.”
• privacy analysis of bills»lagförslag ska analyseras ur integritetssynpunkt.« (party programme ↗)“legislative proposals shall be analysed from a privacy perspective.”
• expanded coercive measures in substance»Avlyssning och andra hemliga tvångsmedel ska kunna användas både vid misstanke om fler brott än i dag och efter domstolsbeslut mot organiserade gängmedlemmar även utan konkret brottsmisstanke.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Telephone tapping and other secret coercive measures shall be able to be used both for suspicion of more crimes than today and after court decision against organised gang members even without concrete suspicion of crime.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan requires strong protection of personal integrity and that criminal investigation powers are clearly defined, while evaluation and control are important political tasks. A thorough evaluation of intrusive preventive coercive measures follows from this. The plan's requirement that all crimes are effectively prosecuted at the same time argues that the tools are needed.

• strong integrity protectiondecisive»Den personliga integriteten ska ha ett starkt« (party programme ↗)“Personal integrity must have a strong”
• defined powers»Det europeiska polissamarbetet ska vara väl utvecklat samtidigt som dess befogenheter ska vara tydligt avgränsade« (party programme ↗)“European police cooperation should be well developed while its powers should be clearly defined”
• monitoring and control»Utvärdering, kostnadsuppföljning och kvalitetskontroll är därför viktiga politiska« (party programme ↗)“Evaluation, cost tracking and quality control are therefore important political”
• effective crime prevention»Alla brott ska effektivt och utan undantag beivras« (party programme ↗)“All crimes shall be effectively and without exception prosecuted”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan requires that legislation be adapted so that more gang criminals are held accountable and disappear from the streets, and it wants to introduce new powerful tools such as long-term surveillance with ankle monitors and search zones. An earlier and more comprehensive evaluation aimed at testing the preventive powers against integrity requirements goes against that line, even though the plan also protects personal integrity. The elevated terror threat strengthens the need for the tools to work.

• adapted crime-fighting legislationdecisive»Gängen är Sveriges inhemska terrorister – och lagstiftningen måste anpassas därefter så att fler ställs till svars och försvinner från gatan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Gangs are Sweden's domestic terrorists – and legislation must be adapted accordingly so that more are held accountable and disappear from the streets.”
• new preventive tools»Införa en helt ny möjlighet till långtidsövervakning med fotboja« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce a completely new possibility for long-term surveillance with ankle monitors”
• powerful authorities»Införa visitationszoner så att Polisen får bättre möjligheter att leta efter vapen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce search zones so that the Police get better opportunities to search for weapons”
• protected personal integrity»Den personliga integriteten ska värnas, såväl från intrång« (party programme ↗)“Personal integrity shall be protected, both from intrusion”

Worldstate weighed in: Terror threat level raised to high threat for an extended period — Strengthens the plan's requirement for effective preventive authorities

The election manifesto's line is that the justice system shall get more effective tools against serious crime, with expanded surveillance, information gathering, camera monitoring and wiretapping, and that procedural barriers shall be removed. The counter-proposal instead wants to accelerate a review of preventive legislation with a view to proportionality and personal integrity, which pulls in the opposite direction. With the terrorist threat level raised to high the plan's requirements for effective measures against security threats weigh even more heavily.

• expanded surveillance and wiretappingdecisive»Åtgärder ska vidtas för att bättre kunna kartlägga gängaktiva genom t.ex. underrättelsearbete och informationsinhämtning, spaning, kameraövervakning och avlyssning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Measures shall be taken to better map gang-active persons through, for example, intelligence work and information gathering, surveillance, camera monitoring and wiretapping.”
• more effective tools against gang crime»Framförallt behöver rättsväsendet få mer effektiva verktyg för att bekämpa gängbrott.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Above all the justice system needs more effective tools to combat gang crime.”
• remove procedural barriers»Processuella hinder för att möjliggöra en ökad lagföring måste också undanröjas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Procedural barriers to enable increased prosecution must also be removed.”
• strict measures against security threats»Införa hårda restriktioner och förvar för säkerhetshot som befinner sig i Sverige.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce strict restrictions and detention for security threats present in Sweden.”

Worldstate weighed in: Terrorist threat level raised to high — Reinforces the plan's requirements for effective preventive tools against security threats.