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 ...
, the law of self-defence () allows a person attacked to
excuse or justify a proportionate use of violence in defence of the person or property.
The law
Chapter 24 of the Swedish
criminal code
A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
states various conditions for which a person will not be sentenced in
court
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
for committing an otherwise
criminal act
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...
. Self-defence is considered grounds for non-conviction if the accused acted in a situation of peril and acted in a manner that is not "blatantly unjustifiable" in relation to that which is defended.
A situation of peril is stated to exist if:
#a person is subjected to, or is in imminent danger of being subjected to, a criminal attack against property or person, or
#a person through threats, force or violence is prevented from taking back stolen property found on criminals "
red handed", or
#an intruder attempts to enter a room, house, estate or ship, or
#another person refuses to leave a residence after being told to.
The interpretation of what is to be considered not "blatantly unjustifiable" is popularly expressed in Sweden as "that force which is required by the peril". In other words, the defending party may do whatever it takes so long as no alternative, less severe options are available (except fleeing the immediate area
NJA 1969 p425, 1999 p460). The expression "blatantly unjustifiable" allows fairly generous tolerance towards the defending party.
However, the defending party must also consider that which is defended and what injury is inflicted upon the attacker. If that which is defended is insignificant in comparison to the injuries to the attacker, the court may reject the claim that person acted in self-defence since the damage done to the attacker ''is'' "blatantly unjustifiable". Loss of life or permanent bodily injury is rarely justified as self-defence unless the defending party was in danger of being subjected to the same.
For example, if the only way of stopping a criminal from escaping with stolen property would be by killing them, then it would not be justifiable to do so. This is because that which is defended (property) is not as valuable as a human life and therefore the action of killing the criminal is not justifiable.
Subjective peril
Swedish
legal custom
A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law".
Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...
in regards to self-defence states that peril is subjective. This means that the peril is measured from what the defending party ''perceived'' as peril and not the actual peril.
For example, if a person were to threaten someone with an unloaded
gun
A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...
(not an actual lethal threat), the defending party would not be convicted if defending themselves as if the gun were loaded (a lethal threat). This is because the defending party may perceive the gun as loaded and thus lethal.
Excess
A person who commits acts which are "blatantly unjustifiable" while in peril may also escape conviction if the situation were such that the person "could not be expected to maintain control of himself". For instance, such a situation might be if the defending party were in a state of great fear or severe rage because of the peril.
Defence of others
The Swedish criminal code states that anyone who assists a defending party in peril shall have the same rights as the defending party.
See also
*
Battered woman syndrome
Battered woman syndrome (BWS) is a pattern of signs and symptoms displayed by a woman who has suffered persistent intimate partner violence—psychological, physical, or sexual—from her partner (usually male). Although the diagnosis has mainly ...
*
defence of property
The defence of property is a common method of justification used by defendants who argue that they should not be held liable for any loss and injury that they have caused because they were acting to protect their property.
English law
Gener ...
*
Self-defence (Australia)
In the criminal law of Australia, self-defence is a legal defence to a charge of causing injury or death in defence of the person or, to a limited extent, property, or a partial defence to murder if the degree of force used was excessive.
Self ...
*
Self-defence in English law
Self-defence is a defence permitting reasonable force to be used to defend one's self or another. This defence arises from both common law and the Criminal Law Act 1967. Self-defence is a Justification (jurisprudence), justification defence rat ...
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Self-defense (United States)
In the United States, self-defense is an affirmative defense that is used to justify the use of force by one person against another person under specific circumstances.
General rule
In the U.S., the general rule is that " /nowiki> person is pri ...
*
Use of force
The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as "the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject." Multiple definitions exist according to context and purpose. In practical terms, use o ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Self-Defense (Sweden)
Criminal defenses
Law of Sweden
Self-defense