Organisation
Updated
The Ministry of Justice is headed by the Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer. Minister for Migration Johan Forssell is also attached to the Ministry.
The political executive also includes the state secretaries, the political advisers and the press secretaries.
The senior officials at the Ministry also include the Director-General for Administrative Affairs, three Directors-General for Legal Affairs, the Director-General for International Affairs, and the Head of Administration.
The Ministry of Justice has approximately 330 employees. Below the executive level, the Ministry is divided into 15 divisions.
Division for Police Issues
The division is responsible for administration and development of police activities, monitoring and developing of international police cooperation and issues concerning international civilian crisis management.
Government agencies answerable to the division: the Swedish Police Authority and the Swedish Security Service.
Division for Court and Prosecution Issues
The division is responsible for matters relating to administration and development of prosecution issues, courts, judges, lawyers (members of the Swedish Bar Association), legal aid and service of documents.
The division is also responsible for legislation concerning preliminary investigations and the prosecution system, coercive measures in criminal cases, young offenders, rent and tenancy tribunals, service of documents, international civil procedural law (excluding family law), arbitration and legal aid. This includes the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure, the Young Offenders Act (1964:167), the Administrative Court Procedure Act (1971:291), the Legal Aid Act (1996:1619), the Arbitration Act (1999:116), the Service of Process Act (2010:1932), the Act on Collecting Information about Electronic Communications in the Law Enforcement Agencies’ Intelligence Activities (2012:278), the Secret Data Interception Act (2020:62) and the Preliminary Investigations Ordinance (1947:948). The division is also responsible for EU and other international issues in these areas.
Government agencies and other bodies under the division’s responsibility: the Swedish Prosecution Authority, the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, the Officer of the Chancellor of Justice, the National Board of Forensic Medicine, the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection, the Courts of Sweden, the Judges Proposals Board, the rent and tenancy tribunals, the National Legal Aid Authority, the Entailed Property Board, the Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board, the Swedish Inspectorate of Auditors, the Swedish Bar Association and the Road Traffic Injuries Commission.
Division for Crime Policy
The division is responsible for administration and development of crime policy in general, crime prevention issues and issues concerning victims of crime. The division is also responsible for development issues that are common to the judicial system and coordination of issues that involve multiple components of the judicial system.
In addition, it is responsible for development relating to coordination of the judicial system’s digital transformation and other general digitalisation issues within the Ministry’s area of responsibility, as well as the portal to the public legal information system.
The division is also responsible for coordination of gender mainstreaming efforts within the Ministry’s area of responsibility.
Government agencies answerable to the division: the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention and the Swedish Crime Victim Authority.
Division for Criminal Cases and International Judicial Cooperation
The division is responsible for issues relating to international judicial cooperation in criminal matters, e.g., extradition, European arrest warrant, mutual legal assistance, mutual recognition and enforcement of sentences and coercive measures, etc. This includes responsibility for legislation and for international negotiations within e.g. the EU, the Council of Europe and the UN.
The division is Sweden's Central Authority for international judicial cooperation and assists Swedish and foreign authorities in this area. The Central Authority receives, reviews and forwards requests to and from Sweden concerning international cooperation in the areas of criminal and civil law. The division also prepares government decisions in such matters and matters relating to pardons in criminal cases.
International Judicial Co-operation
Division for Real Estate and Company Law
The division is responsible for legislation relating to real estate and company law. This includes the Land Code, the Expropriation Act, the Tenant-Ownership Act, the Tenancy Bargaining Act, the Swedish Companies Act, the Economic Associations Act, the Partnership and Non-registered Partnership Act, the Accounting Act, the Annual Reports Act, the Auditing Act and the Act on the Protection of Trade Secrets.
In addition, the division is responsible for EU issues, other international issues and administrative matters in these areas.
Housing and community planning
Enterprise and industry
Division for Family Law and the Law of Contracts, Torts and Personal Property
The division is responsible for legislation relating to family law and the law of contracts, torts and personal property. This includes the Marriage Code, the Children and Parents Code, the Inheritance Code, the Cohabitees Act, the Personal Names Act, the Tort Liability Act, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act, the Insurance Contracts Act, the Contracts Act, the Consumer Sales Act, the Consumer Services Act, the Bankruptcy Act, the Debt Relief Act, the Company Reconstruction Act and the Debt Enforcement Code.
In addition, the division is responsible for EU issues, other international issues and administrative matters in these areas.
Division for Intellectual Property and Transport Law
The division is responsible for legislation in the field of intellectual property and transport law. This includes copyright, topographies of integrated circuits, patents, trademarks, trade names, designs, plant breeding, shipping, aviation, rail traffic, road traffic and space.
The division is also responsible for negotiations being conducted in these areas, both at EU level and globally.
Culture
Innovation
Media
Transport and infrastructure
Division for Legislation on Public Order and Safety
The division is responsible for legislation relating to public order and safety. This includes the Police Act, the Act on International Police Cooperation, the Firearms Act, the Public Order Act, the Protective Security Act, the Criminal Data Act, the Register of Suspected Persons Act, the Criminal Records Act and the Passport Act.
The division is also responsible for administrative matters relating to the Special Controls of Aliens Act.
Combating terrorism
Judicial system
Division for Criminal Law
The division is responsible for legislation relating to central matters of criminal law, especially the Penal Code, and legislation on penal care and victims of crime. A large part of the division's activities has to do with cooperation on substantive criminal law in the EU and internationally, including in the Council of Europe and the United Nations.
Division for Constitutional Law
The division is responsible for legislation relating to constitutional law and administrative law, as well as video surveillance. This includes the Constitution of Sweden, the Elections Act, the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Act containing supplementary provisions to the EU General Data Protection Regulation, and the Video Surveillance Act.
In addition, the division is responsible for EU issues, other international issues and administrative matters in these areas.
The division is also responsible for coordination of matters relating to cases at the European Court of Human Rights and to the review by the Parliamentary Committee on the Constitution in the Ministry of Justice’s area of activity.
The Constitution of Sweden and personal privacy
Democracy and human rights
Division for Migration Law
The division is responsible for legislation relating to migration law, Swedish citizenship and certain border control issues. This includes the Aliens Act, the Reception of Asylum Seekers and Others Act, the Health and Medical Care for Asylum Seekers and Others Act, the Act on the right to pay and other remuneration for work performed by an alien who is not entitled to stay in Sweden, the Passenger Name Record Act, the Act on the transit of third-country nationals and the Swedish Citizenship Act.
Division for National Policy on Migration
The division is responsible for administrative and development issues relating to national policy on migration, Swedish citizenship and the Swedish Migration Agency. The division also handles documentation for cases in the European Court of Human Rights and UN Convention Committees relating to asylum matters.
The division is also responsible for financial management and follow-up in the area of migration and coordinates budget work under expenditure area 8, Migration.
National authority within the division's area: Swedish Migration Agency
Division for International Migration
The division is responsible for the management and development issues related to international migration, including visa policy and return issues, detention, prevention of irregular migration and international migration policy cooperation. The division is also responsible for coordination of EU work on migration and asylum issues.
Division for EU Affairs
The division is responsible for coordinating EU issues at the Ministry. This includes preparation for meetings of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, Coreper, the EU Coordinating Committee in the area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (CATS), the EU Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA), EU funding programmes in the legal area and EU enlargement and external relations.
The division is also responsible for coordination and support to the Ministry’s divisions as regards other international issues such as the 2030 Agenda, reporting to the UN and the Council of Europe committees against torture, and work on the steering committee with responsibility for private and public law cooperation in the Council of Europe (European Committee on Legal Co-operation, CDCJ).
The division also analyses developments in EU law and is responsible for the Ministry’s internal coordination of the cases at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the General Court, as well as coordination of implementation of EU legal instruments and cases involving violations of EU law.
Furthermore, the division coordinates the political leadership’s international contacts, trips abroad and incoming international visits.
Division for Management Support
The division is responsible for the Ministry’s operational planning and follow-up, budget coordination, and security and contingency measures.
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