Law & order
Equality before the law is one of the foundations of democracy. At the same time, it is important that police officers and prosecutors are scrutinized so that abuse is avoided and those who do are punished. We therefore want an independent authority to review reports against police officers and prosecutors. Civil service responsibility must be reintroduced. Crimes involving victims must be prioritized before other crimes.
Overview – The Pirate Party wants to:
- Police management is changing to discourage prioritization of “easy-to-solve” crimes
- Administrative duties are transferred from police officers to civilian personnel
- An independent authority is introduced with the task of reviewing complaints against police or prosecutors
- Official liability is introduced
1. Better prioritization of the judiciary
The Pirate Party believes that equality before the law is one of the foundations of democracy and that good legal certainty ensures the opportunity for individuals to participate in social life. It is therefore important that reports to the police are not dismissed without good reason. Considerations about the authority’s profitability do not count as good reasons. Giving orders from above to prioritize easy-to-investigate crimes such as drug or traffic offenses in order to improve the authority’s statistics is an incorrect procedure that damages Swedish legal security.
Therefore, we want to:
§1 An investigation is added on how the Police’s management can be changed to counteract the prioritization of “easily solved” crimes.
2. Police presence in society
The type of directive mentioned in chapter 0 also damages the police’s activities by restricting the policemen’s professional autonomy and worsening their working environment. The Swedish police has a staffing crisis, and it is partly due to a large number of police officers leaving the profession. The Pirate Party therefore wants to improve the working conditions of police officers, so that the staffing crisis can be resolved in the long run, to ensure police community presence. The Pirate Party wants to increase the number of employed police officers and civilian personnel in the authority to ensure police presence and relevance in society.
Therefore, we want to:
§2 An investigation is added on how the working environment of active police officers can be improved;
§3 Administrative tasks that currently rest with police officers are transferred to civilian personnel.
3. Investigate abuses of authority
The principle of legal certainty is about protecting individuals from abuse by the state and other authorities; without good legal certainty, people’s freedom of action and thus their autonomy is limited. Therefore, an independent authority is needed with the task of reviewing the actions of prosecutors and police officers, to avoid colleagues investigating and acquitting each other.
Therefore, we want to:
§4 Sweden establishes an independent authority with the task of reviewing the actions of prosecutors and police officers.
4. Better protection for children and young people
The rule of law must protect individuals from abuse, and some of the individuals most in need of such protection are children and young people. Therefore, the Pirate Party wants to investigate current methods for handling legal cases surrounding these individuals – above all the social services’ investigations of LVU cases, reports of concern and custody investigations – and if possible improve them.
Therefore, we want to:
§5 An investigation is carried out into how legal cases concerning children and young people are handled.
5. Re-introduce official responsibility
The Pirate Party’s program of principles states that power should lie with elected politicians and not with civil servants. Today, a lot of power rests with various officials in administrative Sweden, and their exercise of authority is often difficult to review and control. This is a far cry from the principles of decision-making that the Pirate Party is guided by, namely accessibility, openness and transparency. The individual who holds power must be transparent in the exercise of that power; this includes that it can be punished in case of abuse. Therefore, the Piratpartiet wants to reintroduce greater civil servant responsibility.
Therefore, we want to:
§6 Sweden introduces a form of official liability.
6. Policemen shall be policemen, judges shall be judges
In the growing surveillance society, the task of controlling and punishing people for various misdemeanors and crimes has been delegated to private companies and administrative organizations of various kinds. Transport companies are to act as border police and migration courts, web providers are to act as copyright police, market courts and anti-terrorists, and proposals are being put forward to appoint the post office, security companies and others as law enforcement officers and judges. The pirate party wants policemen to be policemen and judges to be judges. Law enforcement and punishment should not be outsourced to private companies.
Therefore, we want to:
§7 An investigation surveys all forms of privatized administration of justice in Sweden and presents proposals on how these can be abolished.
