Statement on the difficulties defence counsels face in reaching clients being detained by the Swedish Prison and Probation Service

Summary of the decision: The Parliamentary Ombudsman has investigated whether defence counsels generally have any difficulty visiting or telephoning clients in detention with the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. Opinions have been obtained from the Swedish Bar Association and the Swedish Prison and Probation Service as part of the investigation.

The Swedish Bar Association and Swedish Prison and Probation Service have expressed somewhat differing views on the scope of this problem. The Swedish Prison and Probation Service has however conceded that practical difficulties may arise at a relatively large number of facilities, and that it has become more difficult for defence counsels to contact clients remanded to some of the country’s largest remand prisons in a timely manner. The Parliamentary Ombudsman finds this information very troubling.

According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, there is an obvious risk that, in practice, overcrowding within the Swedish Prison and Probation Service will erode suspects’ right to access defence counsel and by extension to a fair trial. It is of the utmost importance that the agency plans for and ensures the practical prerequisites for contact with defence counsel within the scope of the major building and refurbishment works that are now underway.

In the decision, Fosie Prison is criticised for failing to mediate contact between a defence counsel and one of the prison’s inmates.