Background & Purpose
The goal of this cooperation is to help people who have committed crimes return to society more easily by serving their sentences in a country where they have family or other connections.
Proposals & Debate
The government proposed updating the law to include community service in the Nordic cooperation. They also suggested new rules to speed up the transfer of prison sentences and allow for faster processing if the person involved agrees to the move.
The Decision
The parliament approved the new rules, which will make the process of transferring sentences between Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway faster and more efficient.
Does this affect you?
- Convicted individuals: People serving sentences who have strong ties to another Nordic country can now more easily serve their time in that country.
- Prison and Probation staff: Staff at the Swedish Prison and Probation Service will follow new, faster procedures for handling international transfers.
In Practice
- Community service sentences can now be transferred between the Nordic countries.
- Authorities must process requests for transferring prison sentences more quickly.
- If a person agrees to serve their sentence in another Nordic country, the decision can become final immediately.
- Convicted individuals must be clearly informed that if they agree to a transfer, they cannot appeal the decision later.