The Committee on the Constitution () (KU) is a

parliamentary committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

in the Swedish

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

. The committee's responsibilities include examining issues relating to the

Swedish Constitution The Basic Laws of Sweden () are the four constitutional laws of the Kingdom of Sweden that regulate the Swedish political system, acting in a similar manner to the constitutions of most countries. These four laws are: the Instrument of Governmen ...

and

Administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

s, as well as examining the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

's performance of duties and the handling of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

matters. The committee's activities are regulated by the Riksdag. Given the committee's significant power, it has been agreed since 1991 that the Speaker of the committee shall come from the opposition party. Since October 2022, the Speaker of the committee has been

Ida Karkiainen Ida Victoria Karkiainen (born 10 May 1988) is a Swedish politician for the Social Democratic party. She was the Minister for Public Administration in Magdalena Andersson's cabinet from 30 November 2021 to the government's dissolution on 17 Oct ...

from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, and the vice-Speaker of the committee is "to be elected" from the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

. The committee is made up of seventeen elected

members of the Riksdag Members of Parliament ( Swedish: ''riksdagsledamöter'', singular: ''riksdagsledamot'') in Sweden sit in the Riksdag. Description ''Members of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the Riksdag. In Swedish, an MP is usually referred ...

with representation from all

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

History

The first Swedish legislative committee founded for the purpose of watching over the constitution was in May 1809, at the time of the

Riksdag of the Estates Riksdag of the Estates (; informally ) was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King. It was a Diet made up of the Fou ...

. The committee played an important role in the development of the new form of government that was adopted on 6 June in the same year. The first Speaker of the committee was

Lars August Mannerheim Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...

, and the first Secretary of the committee was

Hans Järta Hans Järta (originally Hans Hierta) (11 February 1774 – 6 April 1847) was a Swedish administrator, revolutionary and philosopher. He helped overthrow Gustavus IV Adolphus in the Coup of 1809 and was one of the main drafters of the 1809 cons ...

. The committee was permanently established by the

Instrument of Government The Instrument of Government was the first constitution of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and was also the first codified and written constitution in England. It was drafted by Major-General John Lambert in 1653. Anteced ...

§53
in 1809, which describes the committee's function:

''To bring issues concerning changes in the constitutions and opinions thereof to the attention of the estates of the state, and to review the minutes kept by the Government''

Its tasks are similarly set out by §§ 105-107 of the ''Riksdagsstadgan'' (parliamentary rules):

''The principal function remains unchanged, but a function has to adapt itself to modern society's conditions and the change in state.''

Tasks

The concerns of the Committee on the Constitution are the Swedish constitutions and the Riksdag's rules of procedure, and the committee is an important element of the Riksdag's power. The committee oversees legislation on the constitution and administrative law; on television, radio and film; press and party support; the Riksdag, offices in the Riksdag, such as the National Audit Office and the

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

(but not the

Riksbank Sveriges Riksbank, or simply the Riksbank, is the central bank of Sweden. Founded in 1668, it is the world's oldest surviving central bank, and the third oldest bank in continuous operation. Prior to World War I, it was also the only state- ...

); review of government ministers; freedom of the

press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

and

expression Expression may refer to: Linguistics * Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence * Expression (mathematics), Symbolic description of a mathematical object * Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning * Idiom, a type of ...

; municipal self-government; opinion formation; and

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. The Committee submits so-called ''KU-anmälningar'' (Constitutional Committee reports). The ongoing review is presented annually in a report, called the review report, formerly known as the "discharge report" (Swedish: ''dechargebetänkandet''). When a report about a person is sent to the committee, a hearing is then held. Since 1988, the public has been allowed to witness these hearings. It is common for the committee to criticize a government minister after a hearing, resulting in a vote of no confidence. The committee also has the last word in certain deliberations prior to a Riksdag decision.

Impeachments

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

should proceed against a government minister, it would be the Committee that decides this. The case would then go to Sweden's Supreme Court. The last time a minister was impeached in Sweden was during the mid-1800s, under the now-defunct

law (). Swedish Wikipedia on impeachments

List of chairmen for the committee

Chairmen before 1971 (
bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...
Riksdag)

*1809/1810: Lars August Mannerheim *1823: Baltzar von Platen *1828/1830: Lars August Mannerheim *1834/1835: Jakob Cederström *1840/1841: Carl Henrik Anckarsvärd *1851–1858:

Gustaf Lagerbjelke Count Gustaf Lagerbjelke (6 October 1817 – 6 March 1895). The 3rd Count Lagerbjelke was a Swedish politician, the last Lord Marshal and the first Speaker of ''Första kammaren'' of the Riksdag. Biography Gustaf Lagerbjelke was born 6 Octobe ...

*1859/1860, 1862/1863, 1867/1871: Thomas Munck af Rosenschöld *1871 (): Gustaf af Ugglas *1872/1875: Thomas Munck af Rosenschöld *1876–1887B: Magnus Hallenborg *1888:

Gunnar Wennerberg Gunnar Wennerberg (2 October 1817 – 24 August 1901) was a Swedish poet, composer and politician. Biography Wennerberg was the son of the vicar of the town of Lidköping in Västergötland, went to ''gymnasium (school), gymnasium'' in the cath ...

*1888–1898: Oscar Bergius *1899:

Gustaf Åkerhielm Baron Johan Gustaf Nils Samuel Åkerhielm af Margaretelund (24 June 1833 – 2 April 1900) was a Swedish politician, a baron, a landowner, member of the Riksdag of the Estates from 1859 to 1866 and the '' Andra kammar'' (Lower house) of the Riks ...

*1900–1901: Gustaf Rudebeck *1902–1905 ( riksdagen): Hugo Blomberg *1906–1908: Hugo Blomberg *1909–1910:

Karl Staaff Karl Albert Staaff (21 January 1860 – 4 October 1915) was a Swedish liberal politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1905 to 1906 and again from 1911 to 1914. He was chairman of the Liberal Coalition Party from ...

*1911:

Ernst Trygger Ernst Trygger (27 October 1857 – 23 September 1943) was a Swedish jurist, professor and conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1923 to 1924. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 in t ...

*1912: Carl Carlsson Bonde *1912: Theodor af Callerholm *1913–1917:

Nils Edén Nils Edén (25 August 1871 – 16 June 1945) was a Swedish historian and liberal politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1917 to 1920, and along with Hjalmar Branting acknowledged as co-architect of Sweden's transition from ...

*1918: Otto Mannheimer *1918 (urtima Riksdag): Jakob Pettersson *1919 (urtima Riksdag): Jakob Pettersson *1919 (urtima Riksdag)–1921: Viktor Larsson in Västerås *1922–1923: Sam Clason *1924: Viktor Larsson in Västerås *1925–1929: Knut von Geijer *1930–1938: Carl Axel Reuterskiöld *1939 (lagtima riksdagen)–1958 (B): Harald Hallén *1959–1964: Bengt Elmgren *1965–1972: Georg Pettersson

After 1971 (
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
Riksdag)

List of vice-chairmen for the committee

Vice-chairmen before 1971 (bicameral Riksdag)

*Johan Sjöberg 1869 *

Lars Johan Hierta Lars Johan Hierta (; 22 January 1801 – 20 November 1872) was a Swedish Publishing, newspaper publisher, Social criticism, social critic, businessman and politician. He is best known as the founder of the newspaper ''Aftonbladet'' in 1830. Hier ...

1871U *

Pehr von Ehrenheim Pehr von Ehrenheim (1823–1918) was a Swedish politician and the fourth Speaker of Första kammaren of the Riksdag. References 1823 births 1918 deaths Speakers of Första kammaren Members of the Första kammaren 19th-century Swedis ...

1872 -1973 *Magnus Hallenborg 1874 - 1875 *Johan Sjöberg 1876 - 1878 *

Johan Nordenfalk Johan Nordenfalk (9 September 1796 – 9 March 1846) was a Swedish politician, ''friherre'' and government official, who served as Prime Minister for Justice between 1844 and 1846. Biography Nordenfalk was born into wealthy family of landowners ...

1879 - 1880 *

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (; 18 November 183212 August 1901) was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the noble Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friherre (ba ...

1884 - 1885 *Per Siljeström 1886 *Axel Ljungman 1887A *Johan Sjöberg 1887B *Axel Ljungman 1891 - 1899 *Fredrik Barnekow 1900 - 1905L *Gullbrand Elowson 1905 1U - 1906 *Theodor af Callerholm 1907 - 1909 *Johan Fredrik Nyström 1910 *Theodor af Callerholm 1911 *

Hjalmar Branting Karl Hjalmar Branting (; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish politician who was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 1907 until his death in 1925, and three times Prime Minister of Sweden. When Branting c ...

1912 - 1914A *Sam Clason 1914B - 1917 *Viktor Larsson in Västerås 1918L - 1918U *Sam Clason 1919 - 1921 *

Arthur Engberg Jonas Arthur Engberg (1 January 1888 – 27 March 1944), was a Swedish Social Democratic politician. He was a Member of the Riksdag 1917–1940, as well as minister of education and ecclesiastical affairs from September 1932 to June 1936, and ...

1922 - 1923 *Knut von Geijer 1925 *Arthur Engberg 1926 - 1928 *Harald Hallén 1933 - 1938 *Anton Pettersson 1939L - 1939U *Gustaf Adolf Björkman 1940 - 1940U *Jones Erik Andersson 1941 - 1951 *John Pettersson 1952 -1960 * Torsten Andersson 1961 - 1968 * Gunnar Larsson 1969 - 1971

After 1971 (unicameral Riksdag)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Riksdagen - KonstitutionsutskottetRiksdag websiteConstitution Committee websitesvt.se Background: Så arbetar konstitutionsutskottet
(Swedish: ''How the Constitution Committee works'') May 24, 2007 Committees of the Riksdag