Tag: law

new laws all ready to be applied
pic: tyda.se

In these last days of 2019, several sources have come out with the new laws and regulations (förordningar) that will apply from Jan. 1, 2020. From omni.se, here’s a short list:

  • The UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (barnkonventionen) becomes Swedish law. Expectations for what will be its effect vary. Some worry that a parent’s right to raise their child religiously will be limited (this article), that sport coaches will be hamstrung (this article), that finally children’s playgrounds will be forced to be bigger (this article), and that the cuts in hospital’s operating budgets will make following the law impossible (this article). In other words, a lot of different people, with different issues that are close to their heart, have different expectations on what the implementation will mean. What most people can agree on, according to Sweden’s radio, is that it will likely be expensive for the municipalities, at least in the beginning, as everyone figures out how the law is to be practically applied.
  • Civics classes for new immigrants will be expanded. As of Jan. 1, municipalities must increase the number of hours of introduction “welcome to Sweden” classes (samhällsorientering) from 60 hours to 100 hours.
  • Immigrants’ right to welfare payments is reduced for those who move to a “vulnerable zone”. Asylum seekers who move to an area of socioeconomic hardship (utsatta områden) will no longer be eligible to daily benefits (dagersättning) or special payments for asylum seekers according to the Law on Reception 1994:137 (särskilt bidrag enligt lagen om mottagande av asylsökande). The hope here is that fewer new arrivals will move to areas already strongly populated by other immigrants, and by that, will become integrated in Swedish society faster.
  • The emergency austerity tax/extra wealth tax (värnskatten) will go away. This was a condition for allowing the Löfven government to remain in power after the 2018 election (see this post, and this post for more information) and means that the extra 5% in taxes that the wealthy paid (because they were wealthy, because they should share that wealth) will no longer be due. Needless to say, this measure is actually not at all popular with the Social Democratic party, and is a large, waving red flag for the Left party. However, this was the price Löfven and co. agreed to pay the piper, and now the bill is due.
  • It will now be easier to set up camera surveillance. Not by you and me, but the police, Swedish Security Service (säpo), Coast Guard (kustbevakning) and Customs (tullverket) will, as of Jan. 1, be able to set up camera surveillance without jumping through a lot of bureaucratic hoops and politely asking permission from the Swedish Data Protection Authority (Datainspektionen). The Data Protection Authority still has a supervisory role, but the police, etc., will be able to decide for themselves whether or not, in certain cases, surveillance is more important than the general public’s right not to be watched.

But wait, there’s more! They’ll be taken up tomorrow.

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.”