Lay judges’ party affiliations raise transparency concerns in Sweden’s residency permit cases

In a notable case concerning residency permits, all three lay judges came from the Sweden Democrats party and voted for deportation, disregarding the wishes of an impartial legal judge. In 2023, over 100,000 cases were adjudicated by courts with three lay judges, according to the Swedish Courts Administration. Lay judges are appointed by political parties but are expected to remain impartial, leading to a lack of transparency regarding their affiliations in court. Consequently, there is no official data on how often all three lay judges represent the same party.

According to statistics professor Tom Britton from Stockholm University, it is mathematically likely that this situation occurred over a thousand times last year. Legal scholar Mårten Schultz, among others, has expressed criticism of this system, advocating for its abolishment. “I would assert that a significant proportion of legal professionals are dissatisfied with it,” says Schultz.

While an impartial legal judge is always present in court, the lay judges’ votes can outweigh the legal judge’s opinion.

An instance highlighting potential party influence involved a case last year where a climate activist was acquitted for blocking a road. Lay judges from the Left Party and the Social Democrats ruled in favor of the defendant based on climate emergency grounds, while a legal judge and a liberal lay judge wanted a conviction. With a tie in votes, the court opted to acquit.

Legal professor Claes Sandgren expressed concerns over public trust in the judiciary, stating that awareness of politically appointed lay judges undermines credibility. Similarly, Eric Bylander, a law professor at Uppsala University, suggested a rule preventing all three lay judges from belonging to the same party for greater clarity.

Meanwhile, Linda Ingvarsson, the chairperson of the national association of lay judges, sees no issue and asserts the system’s effectiveness.