SwedenLag och rätt 4 · Law and justice
What does the principle of legality (legalitetsprincipen) mean when it comes to crime and punishment?
In the exam (Swedish)
Vad innebär legalitetsprincipen när det gäller brott och straff?
- aThe police may decide for themselves what counts as a crime.Polisen får själv bestämma vad som räknas som brott.
- bA new law banning something also applies to acts done before the law existed.En ny lag om ett förbud gäller också handlingar som gjordes innan lagen fanns.
- cThe judge may judge according to their own sense of right and wrong, even without support in law.Domaren får döma efter sin egen känsla för rätt och fel, även utan stöd i lag.
- dYou can be punished only for an act that was forbidden by law when it was done.Man kan bara straffas för en handling som var förbjuden i lag när den gjordes.Correct answer
Why?
The principle of legality means that there must be a law forbidding the act at the time it is done. No one can be punished afterwards for something that was allowed when it happened.
Translated with AI. In the exam the question is in Swedish, as shown above.
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Take a free mock examLag och rätt 5
In which court is a criminal case usually tried first?Correct answer:The district court (tingsrätten)
I vilken domstol prövas ett brottmål oftast först? — Tingsrätten
Lag och rätt 6
A person is not satisfied with the district court's (tingsrätten) judgment in a criminal case. Where can the judgment be appealed?Correct answer:To the court of appeal
En person är inte nöjd med tingsrättens dom i ett brottmål. Vart kan domen överklagas? — Till hovrätten
Lag och rätt 7
Which type of court tries disputes between an individual and a public authority, for example about a decision from the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket)?Correct answer:The administrative courts (förvaltningsdomstolarna)
Vilken typ av domstol prövar tvister mellan en enskild person och en myndighet, till exempel om ett beslut från Skatteverket? — Förvaltningsdomstolarna
Lag och rätt 8
What is a nämndeman?Correct answer:An ordinary citizen who takes part in judging cases in court
Vad är en nämndeman? — En vanlig medborgare som är med och dömer i domstolen
Source
Our own practice questions, written from the facts in UHR’s study material “Sverige i fokus” and the subjects of the ordinance (2026:451) on the citizenship test. They are not the real test questions, which are not published, and no text from the material is reused. Each question was written, answered blind and fact-checked in separate rounds. The English translation and the explanations are ours, made with AI help; in the test the questions are asked in Swedish. We are not affiliated with the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) or the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket).
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