Criticism of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, Sollentuna Remand Prison, for losing a preliminary investigation report and, in another case, erasing a report from a device

Summary of the decision: In their decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman goes into detail on the legal points of departure for inmates’ access to preliminary investigation reports. The suspect’s right to material gathered while investigating a criminal case is part of the fundamental right to a fair trial under the Swedish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, inmates’ access to preliminary investigation reports and other documents in an ongoing legal matter is a very important issue of legal certainty. An inmate who is not permitted to have the report on their case in their possession is entirely dependent on the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to store and otherwise handle documents in a secure manner. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the authority also has a responsibility to ensure that an inmate is given access to the material to the necessary extent and in an appropriate manner to allow them to prepare their defence. In practice, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service and its staff have an essential function in this regard.

In one of the cases in question, Sollentuna Remand Prison lost parts of a preliminary investigation report and it took some time before the centre took action to ensure that the inmate received new copies of the documents. In the other case, another inmate’s preliminary investigation report and their notes were erased from a device in conjunction with a move. The Parliamentary Ombudsman holds that this is especially serious as, in both cases, it occurred during a critical period in the preparation of their respective defences. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the prison’s handling of the preliminary investigation reports is deserving of criticism.