Repression, rehabilitering eller reparation? Svenska straffrättsliga reaktioner för unga lagöverträdare i ett komparativt perspektiv

Sammanfattning: Children and young people who commit crimes constitutes one of the most difficult and controversial issues in criminal law. The penal regulations arising in discussions vary from being repressive/punitive to being rehabilitative/supportive. As stated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the government has proposed as Swedish law in 2016, the juvenile offenders should be treated with rehabilitation and restorative justice in order to enable their reintegration into society. Based on international obligations and examples, this essay aims at assessing and proposing improvements of Swedish penal regulations to juvenile offenders. The Swedish procedures as far as this subject matter is concerned, have been compared “vertically” with international obligations according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as with guidelines from the EU and the Council of Europe. Furthermore, a “horizontal” comparison to Norway has been implemented. Comparisons indicate that the Swedish regulations largely meet the requirements of international duties with several procedures especially adapted to juvenile offenders. A vital proposal for improvement of the Swedish legislation is to adopt legal instruments that are characterized by restorative justice. This is advocated in both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European guidelines as well. Norway has passed penal legislations which are distinguished by restorative justice, for instance meditation and the so called “ungdomstraffet” (youth penalty). Based mainly on the principles of rehabilitation and humanity, the essay writer advocates for the adoption of the above mentioned procedures in Sweden as well. With the appropriate combination of support from society and demands posed to the youngster to take responsibility for his bad behavior, he may be motivated to a lasting change, thus increasing the possibilities for successful reintegration.