Ministerial rule () is the informal term for when a public authority in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

— including the

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 ...

, or a decision-making body of a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

— tries to influence how an administrative authority () decides in a particular case relating to the exercise of public authority vis-à-vis an individual or a local authority, or the application of legislation. This is a violation against 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 ...

, the main part of the constitution of Sweden. Swedish

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

is dualistic, meaning governmental departments are under the direct control of a minister, but the administrative authorities (or government agencies in other words) under these departments are ostensibly autonomous. The agencies work according to laws and rules decided on by the Riksdag, but apply them on their own accord. So while the agencies are formally associated with some department, a minister cannot exert control over these agencies on individual matters, and they do not have the authority to direct daily operations. Ministers are thus expressly prohibited to intervene in matters relating to the application of the law or the due exercise of an agency's authority, quite unlike the situation in many other countries. If the

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 ...

believes that an agency has not applied the law correctly, its only remedy is to change the relevant legislation. The reasoning behind this is to prevent government corruption and to ensure that laws and regulations are applied equally. It also incentivises the Government and Riksdag to get rid of hard-to-interpret or problematic laws and regulations. There are rare exceptions to this distinction, such as when a natural disaster or war occurs and there is a need for a shorter

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...

. Government-owned commercial companies are not formally covered by the rule of Ministerstyre. However, the government still generally instructs them to maintain themselves in a commercial way and turn a profit. This can create conflicts. The principle of ministerial governance came under debate in 2021, when the company, which produces most of the

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

used in Sweden from a mine on

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, failed to get a permission to continue mining. The environmental agencies delayed the case repeatedly by issuing new interpretations of the vague environmental law, including during court trials. Facing risk of blocking a large part of Swedish industrial activities, the government made a temporary exception to the law, getting criticism of overruling an agency decision, ministerial governance.

How government agencies are governed

The agencies do not have complete freedom to interpret the law and the government has a right to influence the agencies, but only through strictly general policy instruments which are described in the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. These instruments are: * Acts of Law and Other Provisions – This includes laws adopted by the Riksdag and ordinances issued by the Government (). They are interpreted by courts of law. * Financial Power – The Government Offices issues a letter of appropriation () once a year, based on the budget set by the Riksdag, which regulates the general activities and overall objectives for an agency. * Power of Appointment – The Government decides on the employment of agency heads, deputy directors-general and county directors. Special rules apply for the appointment and dismissal of permanent salaried judges and other positions, where independence is of vital importance. * Parliamentary Control – This is done by the

Swedish National Audit Office The Swedish National Audit Office () is the agency responsible for oversight of the state finances through financial and performance audits of state agencies, state-owned companies and the Government of Sweden. It serves directly under the Riksd ...

, the

Parliamentary Ombudsman Parliamentary Ombudsman (, , , , ) is the name of the principal ombudsman institutions in Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (where the term ''justice ombudsman'' – or JO – is also used). In each case, the terms refer both to the of ...

, the

Chancellor of Justice The Chancellor of Justice is a government official found in some northern European countries, broadly responsible for supervising the lawfulness of government actions. History In 1713, the Swedish King Charles XII, preoccupied with fighting t ...

and the

administrative courts An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

Notes

:1. ''The Instrument of Government'', Chapter 11, Articles 6 and 7. ''The Letters Patent Act''
1994:261
governs the dismissal of certain employees, such as permanent salaried judges () and the

Prosecutor-General of Sweden The Prosecutor-General of Sweden () is the department head for the Swedish Prosecution Authority responsible for the daily operations, the highest-ranked prosecutor in the country, and the only public prosecutor in the Supreme Court of Sweden, Supr ...

References

External links

English translation of the Instrument of Government
Government of Sweden Constitution of Sweden

How government agencies are governed

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links