Last spring, the Council on Legislation said no to the government's legislative proposal on anonymous witnesses. The Council considered the added value of anonymous witnesses to be "very limited" and that it is associated with risks for legal security.
The proposal had also received sharp criticism from both the Judiciary and the Parliamentary Ombudsman, who warned of damaged confidence in the judicial system.
"Breaking the culture of silence"
Now, despite the criticism, the government and the Sweden Democrats are going ahead with their proposal, which means that it will be possible to testify anonymously, during investigations and in court cases, under certain circumstances.
There is no doubt that a system with anonymous witnesses is a new element in our Swedish legal system, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) at a press conference and continues:
Why are we then going ahead with this? Well, in order to strengthen the protection of witnesses, break the culture of silence, and increase the prosecution of serious crimes.
According to the government, the system of anonymous witnesses will only be used in exceptional cases and primarily be relevant for serious gang-related crimes.
There must be a "significant" risk that the witness or relatives will be exposed to serious crime. The crime that the witness is to testify about must also correspond to at least two years' imprisonment.
Gunnar Strömmer states that the legislative proposal largely agrees with the investigation's proposal. Some changes have been made after the Council on Legislation's criticism. Among other things, it has been included in the legislation that other measures to protect the witness will be insufficient or significantly more difficult to implement.
The law will meet high demands on legal security.
I want to emphasize that the conditions for hearing a witness anonymously are high, says Gunnar Strömmer.
Both prosecutors, suspects, and defendants will be able to apply to hear a witness anonymously, and the application will be reviewed by the court.
Misconceptions
The Council on Legislation feared last spring that the proposal would give people misconceptions about being able to testify anonymously. The government is therefore assigning the Crime Victim Authority to inform about the new system, so that it does not lead to "unrealistic expectations".
The government is simultaneously speeding up the law and proposes that it should come into force on January 1, 2025. That is three months earlier than what the investigation proposed.
