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Kulturudvalget 2014-15 (1. samling)
KUU Alm.del Bilag 59
Offentligt

29 September 2014

Our ref. 2014:1351

ECPRD Request no. 2637

MEDIA AND PRIVACY VIOLATION OF INDIVIDUALS

1. Do you have legislation about compensation responsibility for defama-

tion and privacy violation of individuals exposed in the press?

2. Who has the right to take proceedings?

3. What is the compensation level for injuries to a person’s reputation?

Based on data from recent years.

4. What is the level of sentencing of media regarding publishing of incor-

rect stories?

5. Do you have an independent institution outside the courts dealing with

cases in relation to privacy violation from media?

6. Do you have any experiences about measure of compensation for injury

dependent on the economic income of the convicted? If yes, what are the

experiences?

Legislation

Defamation and gross defamation are regulated in Chapter 5, Sections 1 and 2 of

the

Swedish Penal Code.

Provisions on damages are found in the

Tort Liability

Act (1972:207),

in particular Chapter 2, Section 3 and Chapter 5, Section 6.

If committed by means of printed matter, the act of defamation shall be deemed

as an offence against the freedom of the press (tryckfrihetsbrott). This is regu-

lated in Chapter 7, Article 4, Paragraph 14 of the

Freedom of the Press Act.

If the

act of defamation is committed in a radio programme or technical recording it

shall instead be regarded as a freedom of expression offence (yttrandefrihets-

brott). This is regulated in Chapter 5, Article 1 of the

Fundamental Law on Free-

dom of Expression.

Elizabeth Lindell

THE RESEARCH SERVICE

Tel: +46 8 786 53 51

THE SW EDISH PARLIAMENT SE-100 12 Stockholm • Phone +46 8 786 40 00 • www.riksdagen.se

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Supplementary rules on damages in case of an offence against the freedom of the

press or the freedom of expression are found in Chapter 11 of the Freedom of the

Press Act and Chapter 8 of the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression.

The Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expres-

sion are constitutional laws.

Who has the right to take proceedings?

The main rule is that defamation may not be prosecuted by other than the injured

party. If, however, the injured party notifies the crime for prosecution, and if

prosecution is considered necessary in the public interest, a prosecutor may pros-

ecute for defamation and gross defamation (Chapter 5, Section 5 of the Penal

Code).

The Chancellor of Justice

acts as sole prosecutor in cases concerning offences

against the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression. However, the

above mentioned rules in Chapter 5, Section 5 of the Penal Code are equally ap-

plicable in those cases.

A private claim for compensation in consequence of an offence is often con-

ducted in conjunction with the prosecution of the offence. Otherwise, an action

shall be instituted in the manner prescribed for civil actions.

The level of compensation

There are no fixed levels and no statistics regarding compensation for defama-

tion. The compensation is determined in accordance with the provisions in Chap-

ter 5, Section 6 of the

Tort Liability Act (1972:207).

Case law provides examples

of levels between SEK 5 000 – 125 000.

The court may order the offender to pay for printing of the judgment in one or

more newspapers. See also Chapter 7, Article 6 of the Freedom of the Press Act

and Chapter 5, Article 4 of the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression.

The level of sentencing

The penalty for defamation is a fine and for gross defamation a fine or imprison-

ment for at most two years. Fines are imposed in the form of assessed fines based

on daily income.

English versions are available at

http://www.riksdagen.se/en/Documents-and-laws/.

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Other institutions

The Press Ombudsman (Allmänhetens pressombudsman, PO) and the Press

Council (Pressens opinionsnämnd, PON) are independent self-disciplinary bodies

which deal with complaints about the editorial content of newspapers, magazines

and their websites. The complainant must be personally affected (i.e. identified in

some way) by the publicity and the complaint should be made in three months’

time from the date of publication. Companies, government authorities and organ-

isations can also file complaints. The remedy for such institutional complaints is

the right to reply or the right to a correction. A newspaper that has been found to

violate good journalistic practice is expected to publish the written decision of

the Press Council. It shall also pay an administrative fine.

The Swedish Broadcasting Authority (Myndigheten för radio och tv) supervises

radio and television programme services, on-demand services and teletext. The

Swedish Broadcasting Commission (Granskningsnämnden för radio och tv) is a

separate decision-making body within the Swedish Broadcasting Authority that

monitors whether the content of radio and television programmes adhere to

broadcasting regulations.

Compensation for injury dependent on the economic

income of the convicted

The answer to question no. 6 is no.

http://www.po.se/.

http://www.radioochtv.se/.

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