Legislation for temporary prison enforcement in Estonia
What's at stake: The proposal means Swedish prison sentences can, for a certain period, be served at a facility in Estonia, as a supplementary measure against the sharply increased shortage of prison places while capacity expansion is completed. The question is whether it is justified to depart from the principle that a sentence is served in the state where the person was convicted, and whether the inmate's ties to Sweden and care needs give sufficient protection, or whether the whole arrangement should be rejected.
Case texts and AI reasoning are AI-translated from the Swedish originals; the Swedish text is authoritative.
What the vote decides
The reservation called for the entire bill on temporary prison enforcement abroad to be rejected as a consequence of rejecting the agreement with Estonia, while the committee held that the bill is a well-founded measure against the shortage of prison places and wanted to adopt it.
Yes Yes — the committee proposal
The committee agrees on the pressing need for measures to address the shortage of prison places within the Prison and Probation Service and shares the government's assessment that departing from the normal enforcement order is justified, partly because the sentence always begins in Sweden and the Service must, when assessing suitability, take into account the inmate's ties to Sweden and care needs, and therefore backs the bill.
No No — the reservations
Reservation 2 (V, MP)
The reserving parties (V, MP), referring to their reservation calling for the agreement between Sweden and Estonia on enforcing Swedish prison sentences in Estonia to be rejected, consider that the bill drawn up as a result of that agreement should be rejected in its entirety.
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 2 by V, MP.
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 105/1/0/0
MPown reservation
–
No 0/18/0/0
C
–
Yes 23/0/0/1
L
–
Yes 16/0/0/0
KD
–
Yes 19/0/0/0
M
–
Yes 66/0/0/0
SD
–
Yes 70/0/0/0
Broke with the party line
SLars Mejern Larsson(S, Värmlands län)
No — party line: Yes
MPs whose vote differs from their party's majority position in this division. Marked with a dark ring in the chamber view.
Committee proposal
The Riksdag adopts the government's proposal for
1. an act on temporary enforcement of Swedish prison sentences abroad,
2. an act on the applicability of the Work Environment Act for employees of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service when serving at a correctional institution abroad,
3. an act amending the Social Insurance Code,
4. an act amending the Work Environment Act (1977:1160) with the amendment that Chapter 1, Section 4 shall have the wording that the committee proposes in Appendix 3,
5. an act amending the Income Tax Act (1999:1229),
6. an act amending the Aliens Act (2005:716),
7. an act amending the Election Act (2005:837),
8. an act amending the Prisons Act (2010:610),
9. an act amending the Crime Victim Compensation Act (2014:322),
10. an act amending the Prison Time Act (2018:1251),
11. an act amending the Social Services Act (2025:400),
12. an act amending the Act (2025:1053) on Enforcement of Prison Sentences with Electronic Monitoring.
Thereby the Riksdag approves government proposition 2025/26:185 points 3-14 and rejects the motions
2025/26:3997 by Samuel Gonzalez Westling et al. (V) in this part and
2025/26:4063 by Ulrika Westerlund et al. (MP) request 1 in this part.
Original (Swedish)
Riksdagen antar regeringens förslag till
1. lag om tillfällig verkställighet av svenska fängelsestraff utomlands,
2. lag om arbetsmiljölagens tillämplighet för arbetstagare inom Kriminalvården vid tjänstgöring i en kriminalvårdsanstalt utomlands,
3. lag om ändring i socialförsäkringsbalken,
4. lag om ändring i arbetsmiljölagen (1977:1160) med den ändringen att 1 kap. 4 § ska ha den lydelse som utskottet föreslår i bilaga 3,
5. lag om ändring i inkomstskattelagen (1999:1229),
6. lag om ändring i utlänningslagen (2005:716),
7. lag om ändring i vallagen (2005:837),
8. lag om ändring i fängelselagen (2010:610),
9. lag om ändring i brottsskadelagen (2014:322),
10. lag om ändring i strafftidslagen (2018:1251),
11. lag om ändring i socialtjänstlagen (2025:400),
12. lag om ändring i lagen (2025:1053) om verkställighet av fängelsestraff med elektronisk övervakning.
Därmed bifaller riksdagen proposition 2025/26:185 punkterna 3-14 och avslår motionerna
2025/26:3997 av Samuel Gonzalez Westling m.fl. (V) i denna del och
2025/26:4063 av Ulrika Westerlund m.fl. (MP) yrkande 1 i denna del.
Riksdag decision: The Riksdag said yes to the government's proposal to approve the agreement between Sweden and Estonia that makes it possible to temporarily enforce Swedish prison sentences in Estonia.
On 18 June 2025, an agreement was signed between Sweden and Estonia that makes it possible for persons sentenced to imprisonment in Sweden to temporarily serve their sentence in an Estonian institution, where the Estonian correctional authority shall be responsible for enforcement. The purpose of the agreement is to help address the serious shortage of places within the Swedish Prison and Probation Service.
The Riksdag has now approved the agreement and adopted the proposals for legislative amendments needed as a result of the agreement.
The new legal provisions come into force on 3 July 2026.
Counter-proposals
The counter-proposal wants to reject the agreement between Sweden and Estonia on executing Swedish sentences in Estonia. (V, MP) — Reservation 2
Motion 2025/26:3997 — med anledning av prop. 2025/26:185 Tillfällig verkställighet av svenska fängelsestraff utomlands av Samuel Gonzalez Westling m.fl. (V)
Motion 2025/26:4063 — med anledning av prop. 2025/26:185 Tillfällig verkställighet av svenska fängelsestraff utomlands av Ulrika Westerlund m.fl. (MP)