Definitionsproblem i sexualbrottslagen : -bristen i definieringen av begreppet vuxen

Sammanfattning: Abstract The ideas of adulthood, adolescence and childhood in Swedish law have a tendency to not be expressed or discussed. This thesis has focused on the preparatory work of the sexual offence-law to see whether it defines adulthood. This has been achieved by analyzing the documents related to this preparatory work. The thesis focused on two central questions: 1) Was the idea of adulthood an integral part of the discussions in the preparatory work 2) If so, then how was it defined and are there any contradictions in the definition. In addition, this work also evaluated the impact of this law and investigated whether the absolute protection intended by the government and the committee of sexual crime seek actually exists. The study shows that the concept of adulthood was not defined specifically in the preparatory work. However, through the attempts of defining childhood, an inference of adulthood can be made indirectly. The different documents could not create a tenable definition which resulted in this process confusing rather than clarifying the definitions. These ambiguous definitions affect not only the victim of a sexual crime, but also the perpetrator and the judges’ interpretation of the law. The absolute protection also does not exist and instead of making the law stronger and firmer, the revision of the law made it weaker and reduced the judicial security.