Billighetsskälen i BrB 29:5 – berättigande och betydelse vid påföljdsbestämning

Sammanfattning: This doctoral thesis, ‘Billighetsskälen i BrB 29:5 – berättigande och betydelse vid påföljdsbestämning’ (Equity Factors in the Swedish Penal Code – Their Justification and Significance in Criminal Sentencing), addresses those circumstances, equity factors, linked to a criminal offender personally that can play a role as mitigating circumstances in the determination of any criminal sanctions to be imposed. These factors are set forth in Section 5 of Chapter 29 of the Swedish Penal Code, effective as of 1989. The Swedish sentencing procedure focuses on proportionality in the meaning that the criminal sanction is to be proportionate to the seriousness of the criminal offence. Within the process of determining the criminal sanctions to be imposed, the court initially is to consider any circumstances of the crime that can be seen as aggravating (seriousness and blameworthiness), determining the crime’s severity or “penal” value. The equity factors, which are mitigating as to the sanctions, are then to be considered once the penal value has been determined. The aim of this work is to examine the legitimacy of these equity factors in the sentencing system, and their importance when determining the sentence to be imposed. In other words, the endeavour is made to determine whether the Swedish penal system, can be regarded as uniform in its application. It is important here to clarify the underlying legal-ideological bases from which these equity factors emanate, as well as to examine how such factors are to be evaluated qualitatively in relation to other circumstances of importance for sentencing. The overall conclusion here is that the invocation of equity factors within the Swedish criminal sentencing system is justifiable. Such factors are of great significance in the process of determining the criminal sanctions to be imposed. Nevertheless, certain changes concerning the structure of the provisions are proposed here.