Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0353/03533.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 10KB | 184 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03533}
$Pretitle{441}
$Title{Sweden
The Freedom of the Press Act Chapter 12. On Legal Proceedings}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{The Swedish Riksdag}
$Affiliation{Swedish Institute}
$Subject{court
jurors
art
concerning
county
jury
district
freedom
press
criminal}
$Date{1989}
$Log{}
Country:     Sweden
Book:        The Constitution of Sweden 1989 The Swedish Riksdaf
Author:      The Swedish Riksdag
Affiliation: Swedish Institute
Date:        1989

The Freedom of the Press Act Chapter 12. On Legal Proceedings

     Art. 1. Actions concerning the freedom of the press are heard by the
district court within whose jurisdiction the county administration has its
seat. If any reason prompts the designation of another district court within
the county to hear actions concerning the freedom of the press, the Government
may issue an order to that effect.

     Actions concerning the freedom of the press are actions concerning civil
or criminal liability for offences against the freedom of the press, and
applications under Chapter 9, Article 5. Actions concerning the freedom of the
press shall include also actions concerning civil or criminal liability for
offences under Chapter 7. In the case of an offence under the second paragraph
of the last-named Article, however, and if the person who procured the
information has not caused it to be published in print and has not
communicated it to another person for the purpose of such publication, the
case shall be tried as an action concerning the freedom of the press only if
it is manifestly evident that the information was procured for the purpose of
publication in printed matter.

     Art. 2. In actions under penal law concerning the freedom of the press
the question of whether a criminal offence has been committed shall be tried
by a jury of nine members, unless both parties declare themselves willing to
refer the case to the court for decision without a jury. However, the question
of whether the defendant is the person responsible for the publication
concerned under the provisions of Chapter 8 shall always be tried by the court
sitting alone. Whenever the question of whether a criminal offence has been
committed is tried by a jury, the answer shall be considered to be in the
affirmative if at least six members of the jury concur in that opinion.

     If the jury finds that no criminal offence has been committed, the
defendant shall be acquitted. If the jury finds that a criminal offence has
been committed, the question is also considered by the court. If the opinion
of the court differs from that of the jury, the court is entitled to acquit
the defendant or to apply a penal provision imposing a milder sanction than
that applied by the jury. If an appeal is lodged against the judgment of the
district court, the court seized with the appeal is not entitled to depart
further than the district court from the judgment passed by the jury.

     Art. 3. Jurors shall be appointed for each county and shall be divided
into two groups with 16 jurors in the first group and 8 in the second group.
The jurors in the second group must be currently or have been previously lay
members of a court of general jurisprudence or an administrative court.

     Art. 4. Jurors are appointed for a term of four calendar years.

     The jurors are elected in each county by the county council or, where
there is a primary commune in the county which does not come under any county
council, jointly by the county council and the council of the
aforementioned commune. In the county of Gotland jurors are elected by the
council of the Gotland primary commune. If jurors are to be elected by more
than one electoral body pursuant to the foregoing, the number of jurors in
each group shall be divided between the electoral bodies by the county
administration in proportion to the population.

     When jurors are due to be elected it shall be incumbent upon the district
court to give notice to this effect to the authority responsible for arranging
the election.

     Art. 5. Jurors shall be selected from among Swedish citizens resident in
the county for which they are to be appointed. They shall be known for their
soundness of judgment, independence and fair-mindedness. Different social
groups and currents of opinion and various parts of the county shall be
represented among the jurors. A person who is under age or who has an
administrator appointed under special provisions of law may not act as a
juror.

     Art. 6. Any juror who has attained the age of sixty years shall be
entitled to resign his mandate. If a juror wishes to retire in any other
circumstances, the district court is to consider whether valid grounds exist
which prevent him from carrying out his duties. If a juror ceases to be
eligible, his mandate ceases to be valid.

     Art. 7. If a juror retires or ceases to be eligible, the electoral body
shall appoint another person from the group of jurors to which he belonged to
take his place for the remainder of the electoral period. Such a juror may be
appointed by the executive committee of the county council on the county
council's behalf, but an election of this nature is valid only until the next
session of the county council.

     Art. 8. Complaints concerning the election of jurors are lodged with the
district court. Even if no complaint has been lodged, the court shall examine
the qualifications of those who have been elected.

     The statutory provisions concerning appeals against the decisions of a
district court in legal proceedings apply also to appeals against the decision
of a district court on a question under the preceding paragraph. There is no
appeal against the decision of the court of appeal.

     Even if a complaint is lodged, the election is valid unless the court
rules otherwise.

     Art. 9. Persons appointed to serve as jurors shall be entered on a
jurors' list in which each group is listed separately.

     Art. 10. When legal proceedings have been initiated in which a jury will
participate, the court shall present the jurors' list and raise the question
whether there are grounds for disqualifying any of the persons included in the
list. The statutory provisions relating to the disqualification of judges
shall apply.

     The jury is then drawn up from undisqualified jurors in the following
manner: each party has the right to exclude three jurors in the first group
and one in the second, and the court selects substitutes by lot thereafter
from among those remaining, until six jurors are left in the first group and
three in the second.

     Art. 11. If there are several parties on one side only one of whom wishes
to exercise his right to exclude jurors, an exclusion made by him shall be
deemed also to be an exclusion made by the others. If co-parties wish to
exclude different jurors, and if they are unable to reach agreement, the court
makes the exclusion by lot.

     Art. 12. No person may avoid jury service without legal cause.

     If the number of members required in a group cannot be made up because of
disqualification or legal excuse, the court nominates three persons eligible
to be jurors in that group for each juror required. Each party has the right
to exclude one of the persons so named. No person shall be nominated as a
juror who has already been excluded in the same proceedings.

     Art. 13. If several cases in which a jury shall act are being heard
concurrently, the court may rule, after having consulted the parties, that the
same jury shall act in all cases. If a jury is to be empanelled jointly for
two or more cases, the provisions of Article 11 regarding the exclusion of
jurors in a case in which there is more than one party on one side shall apply
mutatis mutandis.

     Art. 14. If in legal proceedings under penal law an action also for civil
liability is brought against a person other than the accused, the steps to be
taken by a defendant under Article 2, first paragraph, Article 10, second
paragraph, and Article 12, secon