Dröjsmål i myndigheters handläggning – Beskrivning och analys

Sammanfattning: The regulatory framework regarding the authorities’ processing times is fragmented and spread across a large number of laws. The general rules of the Swedish Administrative Procedure Act concerning processing times are more of an objective for authorities to strive for. As a result of this fragmentation, it’s difficult to foresee effects of major changes to the regulatory framework. Nevertheless, it’s feasible that a comprehensive review of the legal system will have several beneficial effects. The responsibility for the authorities’ processing times is distributed primarily through the rules of disciplinary responsibility, criminal provisions on official misconduct and law on damages. Inspections by regulatory authorities, such as the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Office of the Chancellor of Justice, can lead to such liability, but seldom do. Typically they opt to level criticism, a procedure not linked to any form of sanctions. Supervision and inspection of the authorities’ processing times are also fragmented. A great number of regulatory bodies, whose form of organization and responsibilities vary, conduct supervision and inspection governed by rules that also vary. This may not be too surprising, considering the huge variation of their responsibilities. There are some tendencies; newer regulatory authorities tend to be created according to sectoral divisions and when regulatory changes are made, institutions like the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Office of the Chancellor of Justice seem to get more responsibilities. The impact of EU law and the ECHR on the processing times of authorities’ and the legal courts’ has become increasingly significant. There has been an influx of procedural rules to facilitate implementations of EU directives and steps have been taken to strengthen Swedish citizens’ ability to exert influence on authorities' processing times. There are similar developments in adjacent legal areas, where a law that states a right to priority for some legal cases in courts of law has been passed. The prospect of obtaining compensation for a prolonged processing time is, in accordance with Swedish administrative tradition, to a certain extent still limited.