Victim Participation Rights by Kerstin Braun

Author:Kerstin Braun
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030045463
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

2.2 Sweden

2.2.1 The Adversarial Trial Structure in Sweden

While the investigation phase in Scandinavian jurisdictions is generally described as inquisitorial , the trial phase has adversarial elements. In Sweden, these adversarial elements were introduced in the 1940s when the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure was holistically reformed (Carlsson 2010, 15). The trial itself is party-centred (Wolhuter 2010, 9) and based on the principles of orality and immediateness (Carlsson 2010, 10). After the reading of charges and the subsequent pleading of the defendant, the trial enters the stage where oral testimony is presented (Wolhuter et al. 2009, 192). Witnesses are questioned by the prosecutor, defence lawyer and the trial judge and cross-examination is possible (Wolhuter et al. 2009, 192). In that context, Swedish criminal procedure shows similarities to the Anglo-American trial and differs significantly from German criminal procedure where the trial judge is almost exclusively responsible for examining the evidence and questioning witnesses. After the trial concludes the verdict is either announced immediately by the judge or is available within two weeks for collection by the parties (Carlsson 2010, 17). No separate sentencing stage exists. Despite the difference in the nature of the criminal process itself, the way in which some victims are able to participate at trial is comparable in Germany and Sweden.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.