A more legally secure and efficient court process: early interviews as evidence and abolished re-hearing rules
What's at stake: The reform is meant to shorten proceedings and reduce the strain on crime victims and witnesses, who avoid repeating their accounts long after the event, and to produce more materially correct judgments. At the same time it affects a defendant's ability to challenge evidence presented in recorded form, which concerns everyone brought to trial. A new secrecy provision also protects data on coercive measures held by the National Courts Administration.
Case texts and AI reasoning are AI-translated from the Swedish originals; the Swedish text is authoritative.
What the vote decides
The question is whether audio- and video-recorded early interviews should be usable as evidence in criminal cases to a greater extent, with a presumption that they are allowed unless inappropriate, and the re-hearing ('tilltro') rules abolished, or whether the current, more restrictive regime should be kept.
Yes Yes — the committee proposal
The committee backs the government's proposed amendments to, among others, the Code of Judicial Procedure and the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, and rejects the motion. The aim is to strengthen legal certainty, increase efficiency in court proceedings and reduce the strain on crime victims and witnesses: accounts given in early interviews, and witness attestations, are to be admissible as evidence to a greater extent, the re-hearing rules are abolished, and a new secrecy provision protects data on coercive measures held by the National Courts Administration. The committee notes that the present possibility of invoking early interviews has not had the intended effect. The proposal creates a presumption that an audio- and video-recorded interview is allowed as evidence unless the court, on the basis of the parties' submissions, finds significant procedural drawbacks. The court can then weigh both process-economy reasons and legal-certainty aspects, above all the suspect's ability to mount a defence, which in the committee's view satisfies legitimate legal-certainty claims and gives the best conditions for materially correct judgments.
No No — the reservations
Reservation 1 (V)
The reservation (V) wants to keep the current system for when early interviews may be invoked as evidence in court, instead of a presumption that makes recorded interviews admissible unless inappropriate.
Summarised from the committee report. Party labels in the summary come from the report, not from the vote.
V–
S–
MP–
C–
L–
KD–
M–
SD–
YesNoAbstainAbsent
What do the votes mean here?
Yes The committee proposal: adopting the government's legislative proposal and rejecting the motions (keeping things as they are).
No Backing the counter-proposal: reservation 1 by V.
Abstain The party marks a position of its own that is not one of the two final alternatives.
The plan's stance / Actual vote
AI
Vote
Confidence
Evidence
Vown reservation
–
No 0/21/0/0
S
–
Yes 106/0/0/0
MP
–
Yes 17/0/0/1
C
–
Yes 24/0/0/0
L
–
Yes 16/0/0/0
KD
–
Yes 19/0/0/0
M
–
Yes 65/0/0/1
SD
–
Yes 70/0/0/0
Committee proposal
The Riksdag adopts the Government's proposals for
1. an act amending the Code of Judicial Procedure,
2. an act amending the Act (1994:831) on proceedings in certain tenancy cases at the Court of Appeal for the Svea region, with the amendment that the words "30 June 2026" in the preamble shall be replaced with "the end of June 2026",
3. an act amending the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400).
Thereby the Riksdag approves proposition 2025/26:155 points 1-3 and rejects motion
2025/26:3951 by Gudrun Nordborg et al. (V).
Original (Swedish)
Riksdagen antar regeringens förslag till
1. lag om ändring i rättegångsbalken,
2. lag om ändring i lagen (1994:831) om rättegången i vissa hyresmål i Svea hovrätt med den ändringen att orden ”den 30 juni 2026” i ingressen ska bytas ut mot ”vid utgången av juni 2026”,
3. lag om ändring i offentlighets- och sekretesslagen (2009:400).
Därmed bifaller riksdagen proposition 2025/26:155 punkterna 1-3 och avslår motion
2025/26:3951 av Gudrun Nordborg m.fl. (V).
Riksdag decision: The Riksdag approved the Government's proposal to make the court process more legally secure and efficient.
The proposals include the following:
Statements given at early interviews and witness statements shall be allowed to be presented as evidence in criminal proceedings to a greater extent than today.
The so-called presumption of accuracy provisions in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court are repealed.
Information about coercive measures shall be covered by confidentiality at the Swedish Courts Administration.
The purpose of the proposals is to strengthen legal security, increase efficiency in the court process and reduce the burden on crime victims and witnesses who participate in legal proceedings.
The legislative changes enter into force on 1 July 2026.
Counter-proposals
The counter-proposal wants to maintain the current system for when early interrogations can be cited as evidence in court. (V) — Reservation 1