Criticism of the Swedish Police Authority for slow processing of a request for the disclosure of official documents

Summary of the decision: It took just over five weeks for the Swedish Police Authority to begin processing a request for access to official documents, and it was some seven weeks before the request was dealt with. The Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman criticises the Swedish Police Authority for failing to process the request with the promptness required by the Freedom of the Press Act (SFS 1949:105).

The Parliamentary Ombudsmen have received numerous complaints in recent times concerning long processing times for requests for official documents submitted to the Swedish Police Authority. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, it is vital that the authority get to grips with the present situation as soon as possible.

The Swedish Police Authority is also reminded that the Freedom of the Press Act provides no leeway to routinely process requests for access to official documents in the order in which they are received.