Tag: lag

2 Dec. – truth not an issue

when truth isn’t the point
pic: sverigesradio.se

In October 2017, a member of the Green party posted on her Instagram account that a colleague in her party, who then sat in Parliament, had assaulted both women and children in various ways, and over a period of time. Today, in Södertorns district court, the woman was convicted of defamation, fined, ordered to pay her victim, Stefan Nilsson, 40,000 kronor, and given a suspended jail sentence (SvD.se/pedo).

The reason she did it, the woman said, was to prevent him from getting another trusted position (förtroendeuppdrag) in the party. In addition, she said that she had no intention of erasing her comment on Instagram (although the account has since been closed). The case against the man was never taken to court, and she had never asked the police to investigate.

Her crime is not just what she said, but where she said it – on a social media account. “By calling this man, Stefan Nilsson, a pedophile, the woman has labelled him both reprehensible and a criminal” wrote the court in its judgement: “Such an attribution is in no way defensible” (DN.se/pedo).

Another, similar case is in the courts right now. Cissi Wallin accused a well-known journalist, Fredrik Virtanen, of rape – also via her Instagram account. She is also being charged, by Virtanen, with defamation. In both cases, because the accusations were posted on social media, they were particularly and seriously damaging – hence being taken to court (DN.se/media). Both men lost their previous positions.

However, in neither of these cases is the truth important. At least, not to the court. In other places (like the USA and the UK) truth is an absolute defense to defamation claims. One can’t claim unfair treatment/insult/slander/libel if the statement that was made is true. In Sweden, though, that isn’t what’s at stake: It’s that you said it at all, in some public manner. As Ängla Eklund, a a lawyer with Mannheimer Swartling, explained to SVT “In Sweden, even true information can be defamation.”

Good to know.

22 Nov. – moderation in advertising

“An open road to the gold!” “Lightning fast payments!”

too risky to see
pic: play.diabetes.org.uk

According to Swedish law, gambling advertisements must be on the temperate side, nothing too crazy: They must be in moderation (vara måttfull). In December of last year, the Swedish Consumer Agency’s ombudsman sued Elec Games, the owners of Ninja Casino, for breaking the law – for not being moderate in their advertisements.

As evidence in their lawsuit, KO (Consumer Ombudsman) named Ninja’s slogans such as “Play now!” “Your win at your bank in five minutes” and “250 games and chances for miljons of kronor are only a click away. What are you waiting for?” as being much too obtrusive. A pop-up ad was deemed particularly egregious. Everyone recognized that one person’s egregious could be another person’s yawn, so the court’s decision was looked forward to (SvD.se/case).

Today, the Patent and Market Court of Appeal (patent- och marknadsdomstolen) agreed with the plaintiff and ruled that Ninja Casino’s advertisements were over the line. 20 advertising phrases that Ninja used, as well as the pop-up ad, did not meet the requirement for moderation. Furthermore, any future slogans “with the same meaning” will also be considered in breach of the law. Should Elec games ignore the judgement, a half million kronor fine awaits them (SvD.se/gambling).

Gunnar Wikström, who worked the case for the Consumer Agency, said that the verdict was important to establish how the word “moderation” should be interpreted. “It’s a pretty general concept, and therefore this case could provide answers. It’s been said in the preparatory legislative work that it was up to the court to draw that line, and that’s what the court has done now. “

“The court has judged that there is a connection between gambling advertisements and gambling disorders, and has taken into special account the effect that advertising has on persons who have, or who are danger of developing, a gambling disorder” wrote Chief Judge Alexander ramsay in a statement (DN.se/gambling).

Ardalan Shekarabi, the Minister for Social Security, was understandably glad. Shekarabi brought the responsibility for the gambling issue with him from his previous job as Minister for Public Administration because it bothered him so much (see this post). “This is a huge victory for everyone who has been engaged in the fight against aggressive gambling ads” he said. “Now no gambling company can say that the law is unclear.”

21 Oct. – What’s in a name

Mind if we call you Bruce?
pic: joylangenburg,com

J and Ford. These are the names that are currently before the supreme administrative court (Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen). Two pairs of Swedish parents wanted to name their respective child these names, but were denied.

The name law (and oh yes, there’s not only a name law but a new name law as of 2017), lists the following reasons for denying parents permission to name a child what they want:

  1. The name can cause offence (väcka anstöt)
  2. The name can be uncomfortable for the child to bear (leda till obehag)
  3. The name can, for some other reason, be inappropriate as a first name ( av någon annan anledning vara olämpligt som förnamn) (Riksdagen.se/namelaw)

In the name law from 1982, a name couldn’t be “clearly inappropriate” (uppenbarligt olämpligt). In 2017, it was changed to just “inappropriate” – much more stringent, but also much more vague.

In one case up before the court, the parents want one of their son’s three first names to be J. They argue that their older son already has that name, and that the letter J has a special significance for them. Two earlier judgments gave the parents the OK, in particular because names with single letters already exist in Sweden, and because the administrative court (förvaltningsdomstolen) had earlier gone along with both “Q” and “A-C” as names. However, the Swedish Tax Agency (skatteverket) said no. According to Anna Ljungberg, a legal expert at skatteverket, there is a risk that people think the one initial is short for a longer name, and that therefore just “J” is misleading.

In the second case up before the court, the parents want to name their child Ford – as in Harrison, or the car maker. Apparently, the name comes from their Canadian side of the family, and there are already 30-odd people in Sweden that have that name. But, again, the Swedish Tax Agency is saying no – arguing that it’s confusingly similar to a last name, plus, it’s not a traditional Swedish name (Svd.se/namelaw).

According to SvD, someone apparently tried at one time to name their kid “Superfastjellyfish” but also got a no (Svd.se/namelaw).

It’s possible that might have been pushing it a bit. The new law did lighten up on some things however. Among other things, it made it easier to change one’s name, to change your name more than once, and to have a double last name (DN.se/namelaw).

This more modern law indicated that perhaps rules and traditions about names could stand loosening up, but skatteverket has decided perhaps, that enough is enough, and wants a decision from the court to clarify things. The decision on both these names is due very soon.