Utredningsansvaret för förvaltningsmyndigheter och förvaltningsdomstolar - En jämförelse särskilt avseende socialförsäkringsmål

Sammanfattning: To what extent the individual should receive help and guidance from authorities in a matter or a case is an interesting and important question. It is significant because it can be important for individuals’ possibilities to exercise their rights. There must also be a balance between guidance and the public resources. Since the administrative law reform was introduced in the 1970s, the perception of this issue has changed while the law almost remains unchanged. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meaning and scope of the responsibility that administrative authorities and administrative courts have for the investigation of the matter or the case and compare how these responsibilities differ between them. The major changes that have occurred have primarily targeted the administrative judicial procedure. Among other things, the wording of § 8 FPL has changed somewhat, Sweden has ratified the European Convention of the Human Right which has resulted in Article 6 have become part of Swedish law, dozens of new case types have been introduced, there is an increased amount of oral proceedings and the two-party proceeding has been introduced. It is therefore the administrative judicial procedure that has changed the most and it has had an impact on the court and how it should investigative its cases. The administrative authorities procedure has not changed in the same way. It is important to ensure the authorities' basic function and purpose in order to determine their investigative responsibilities. Both the administrative authorities and administrative courts shall apply legal standards. But administrative authorities should optimally and maximally realize the purpose and intention of the legislation while administrative courts only shall ensure the purpose of the legislation and provide legal protection for individuals by achieving substantive accurate decisions. The most obvious difference between the administrative authorities and the administrative courts in addition to their basic function is the legislation of their responsibilities. In social security cases that formal difference does not exist. Both authorities shall apply the principle of official responsibility but for administrative courts this is stated directly by the legislation. There is no equivalent legislation for administrative authorities and it is a shortcoming that needs to be addressed. Though in practice, the legislation should not make any difference in the responsibilities. The authorities’ responsibility should always be determined by the nature of the case or the matter. The nature depends on the circumstances. The meaning of "the nature" can be divided into the character, meaning the importance for whom it concerns, and the relative strength of the parties. There is an interaction between these two. But despite some differences, the most decisive factor is the importance of the matter or the case.