Sweden

1 The State duty to protect human rights [page 11]

“States should also set out the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction respect human rights throughout their operations.”

Criminal law provisions to protect human rights

“Sweden has a number of criminal law provisions for the protection of human rights regardless of the context in which an offence is committed, including in the business context. Through these criminal provisions Sweden also fulfils its international commitments in relevant respects. Examples include: …

• “Criminalisation of international crime also provides for protection of life, health and property. The Act on criminal responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (2014:406) entered into force on 1 July 2014.
• Under Swedish law, jurisdiction is extensive and Swedish courts are therefore often able to adjudicate in cases concerning offences committed abroad. Normally, for this to occur, the perpetrator would need to have some ties to Sweden and the offence would need to be subject to criminal liability under the law of the place where it was committed. However, such restrictions do not apply to the most serious crimes, i.e. certain specified crimes such as crimes under the Act on criminal responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and, in general, all crimes with a minimum sentence of imprisonment for four years, for example, exceptionally gross assault (Chapter 2, Penal Code).”