Swedish District Courts Research Articles

Does productivity change at all in Swedish district courts? Empirical analysis focusing on horizontal mergers

This contribution is the first to compare the Malmquist and Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indices in the context of horizontal mergers of Swedish district courts during the period 2000-2017. It is also the first to calculate these productivity indices for convex and nonconvex nonparametric frontier specifications in courts under both constant and variable returns to scale. Moreover, a one-sample symmetric Wilcoxon test and a t-test are performed on the average productivity index to determine whether it is significantly different from unity. Also Li-test statistics examine the differences in productivity between these two indices or between convexity and nonconvexity for a given index. Furthermore, we compare these two productivity indices before and after the mergers to investigate the impact of the horizontal merger activity. The empirical results indicate that overall there is no significant technical change at all. Furthermore, horizontal mergers overall do neither result in technical change, nor in post-merger productivity gains.

Evaluating horizontal mergers in Swedish district courts using plant capacity concepts

This contribution investigates the effects of horizontal mergers and acquisitions on the plant capacity utilisation of Swedish district courts over the period 2000–2017. More specifically, we empirically illustrate the decomposition of input-oriented and output-oriented plant capacity utilisation concepts. Moreover, we also explore the impact of convexity on input-oriented and output-oriented measures of plant capacity in the short-run in an attempt to discover the potential rationale behind the merger wave. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to assess horizontal mergers by employing plant capacity utilisation concepts. The results indicate that the horizontal mergers improve plant capacity utilisation. Furthermore, the nonconvex frontier method provides a more conservative estimate of plant capacity changes of this merger wave.

What lessons can be learned from cost efficiency? The case of Swedish district courts

Many studies have reported findings regarding technical efficiency (i.e., resource use) for district courts around the world. However, our review of previous research did not find any studies targeting cost efficiency. To fill this gap, this study investigates the cost efficiency of Swedish district courts. We apply the Farrell framework and decompose cost efficiency into allocative and technical efficiency. The study finds substantial cost inefficiency for district courts in Sweden, which is mainly due to allocative inefficiency (i.e., having the wrong input mix or paying too much for inputs). This result is not surprising since, for example, there is regional heterogeneity in input prices (i.e., wages and rents). However, it also reveals the potential of, for example, moving district courts out of city centres and high-priced areas. On the other hand, the location and staffing of district courts serve other competing policy concerns, such as the proximity of citizens to district courts. The cost-efficiency analysis gives information about the cost of these competing policy concerns.

Experiences and psychological health among children exposed to online child sexual abuse – a mixed methods study of court verdicts

ABSTRACT Cases of online child sexual abuse (OCSA) are increasing dramatically in number, but research on this relatively new type of crime and its psychological consequences is limited, leading to major challenges for the judiciary. The present mixed methods study investigated 98 legal cases of OCSA (children aged 7–17 years, M = 12.3, SD = 1.92) in Swedish District Courts to see if and how children's experiences and psychological health were described in the written verdicts. The results revealed that the children's psychological health was mentioned in less than half (48.0%) of the cases. Thematic analyses identified several potential vulnerability factors (e.g. poor psychological health, low self-esteem, loneliness) and several potential psychological consequences (e.g. psychological suffering, self-harming and/or suicidal behavior, internalized self-loathing, impaired relationships) among the children, all of which were similar to what research has shown among victims of offline CSA. The sexual abuse situation was often perceived as threatening, and many children felt that they had no other choice than to comply. In addition, the sexually abusive act was depicted as distressing and sometimes painful. In light of these findings, we suggest that OCSA should not be viewed as essentially different or less severe than offline CSA.

Impacts on efficiency of merging the Swedish district courts

Judicial courts form a stringent example of public services using partially sticky inputs and outputs with heterogeneous quality. Notwithstanding, governments internationally are striving to improve the efficiency of and diminish the budget spent on court systems. Frontier methods such as data envelopment analysis are sometimes used in investigations of structural changes in the form of mergers. This essay reviews the methods used to evaluate the ex post efficiency of horizontal mergers. Identification of impacts is difficult. Therefore, three analytical frameworks are applied: (1) a technical efficiency comparison over time, (2) a metafrontier approach among mergers and non-mergers, and (3) a conditional difference-in-differences approach where non-merged twins of the actual mergers are identified by matching. In addition, both time heterogeneity and sources of efficiency change are examined ex post. The method is applied to evaluate the impact on efficiency of merging the Swedish district courts from 95 to 48 between 2000 and 2009. Whereas the stated ambition for the mergers was to improve efficiency, no structured ex post analysis has been done. Swedish courts are shown to improve efficiency from merging. In addition to the particular application, this work may inform a more general discussion on public service efficiency measurement under structural changes, and their limits and potential.

Potential efficiency effects of merging the Swedish district courts

The Swedish district courts have undergone a substantial restructuring process in which the main reform has been to merge. As a result, the number of district courts has declined from 95 in 2000 to only 48 in 2009. All main arguments that support merging concern enhancements of efficiency. However, it has not yet been explicitly examined whether the mergers have the potential to increase efficiency ex ante. Thus, the expectation concerning higher efficiency was built on a subjective view. This paper investigates whether the mergers can be rationalized from a production economic point of view. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to compute a production frontier where the conducted mergers are incorporated to identify the potential ex ante gains. Furthermore, the overall potential is decomposed into learning, scale, and harmony to investigate the source of the potential gain, e.g., an effect of adjusting to best practice or a pure merging effect such as scale. The results show diverse potentials, i.e., a number of mergers did not have the potential to gain in efficiency while others could gain substantially. A conclusion based on the analysis is that the potential production economic effects should be investigated before merger decisions are made in the future. This is also likely to be true beyond the Swedish district courts.

Correction to: A bootstrapped Malmquist index applied to Swedish district courts

Correction to: A bootstrapped Malmquist index applied to Swedish district courts

A bootstrapped Malmquist index applied to Swedish district courts

This study measures the total factor productivity (TFP) of the Swedish district courts by applying data envelopment analysis to calculate the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) of 48 Swedish district courts from 2012 to 2015. In contrast to the limited international literature on court productivity, this study uses a fully decomposed MPI. A bootstrapping approach is further applied to compute confidence intervals for each decomposed factor of TFP. The findings show a 1.7% average decline of TFP, annually. However, a substantial variation between years can be observed in the number of statistically significant courts below and above unity. The averages of the components show that the negative impact is mainly driven by negative technical change. Large variations are also observed over time where the small courts have the largest volatility. Two recommendations are: (1) that district courts with negative TFP growth could learn from those with positive TFP growth; and (2) that the back-up labour force could be developed to enhance flexibility.

Taking the stand: defendant statements in court cases of alleged sexual abuse against infants, toddlers and preschoolers

ABSTRACTInvestigating and adjudicating allegations of child sexual abuse are challenging tasks. In the present study, we examined defendant statements concerning charges of sexual abuse against young children in Swedish district court cases (87 defendants, 140 child complainants, tried between January 2010 to December 2015). A main objective was to test predictive factors for admissions of guilt using inferential statistical analyses. Furthermore, using qualitative thematical analysis, we sought to identify common patterns in the defendants’ explanations to the allegation. Approximately one-third of the defendants (31%) pleaded guilty during trial. Admissions of guilt were more likely if the defendant was young, if the child was young at the onset of abuse, if the child and perpetrator had an extrafamilial relationship, and if the defendant possessed child pornography. A conflict with the person who made the report (e.g. a custody dispute), a testimony from the child, a direct eyewitness, or an informal disclosure recipient were significantly more common in cases of denials. In the qualitative analysis, a range of alternative explanations behind the abuse allegations were identified. Legal professionals and investigators may benefit from considering these alternative hypotheses during their investigative and judicial work.

Internet racism, journalism and the principle of public access: ethical challenges for qualitative research into ‘media attractive’ court cases

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the risk of research exposing people with an immigrant background in criminal court cases to Internet-based racist persecution, due to mismanagement of general ethical guidelines. The principle of informed consent, ideally serving to protect people under study from harm may, in fact, cause them more harm due to the interest among certain Internet-based networks of spreading identifiable, degrading information. Arguments are based on ethically challenging experiences from two ethnographic research projects carried out in Swedish district court environments, focused on immigrant court cases. Ethical advice provided by ethical review boards and established research guidelines, were based on an unawareness of the potentially destructive rendezvous in media attractive immigrant court cases between ‘ethically informed’ research, crime journalism, freedom of information legislation and ‘Internet vigilantes’ on a quest to persecute court participants and their families in the global digital arena.

Legal Assessments of Child Victims of Human Trafficking for Sexual Purposes.

The present study investigated how Swedish district court judges assessed child victims' credibility and the reliability of their testimony in cases of alleged human trafficking for sexual purposes. Court files from 12 different cases, involving 16 alleged child victims (aged 13-17 years old), all of them girls, were qualitatively analyzed with particular attention paid to how the judges described credibility and reliability. Results indicated that, although the judges' assessments to a large extent were based on the Swedish Supreme Court's criteria for credibility and reliability, they were applied somewhat arbitrarily and subjectively. They were also applied as if obvious and grounded on shared experiences, although their meaning was never explored. The way that credibility was assessed may also reinforce gender and victim stereotypes. Moreover, there seems to exist a confusion surrounding the credibility and reliability concepts, as they were sometimes used interchangeably despite the intention that they are two different assessments. Overall, an apparent need exists to increase judges' awareness that their subjective impressions should decrease when legitimizing judicial decisions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Noise, voice and silencing during immigrant court-case performances in Swedish district courts

This article argues that court-ritual unawareness, linguistic shortcomings and stereotypical images about non-Swedish otherness impair the position and acting space for immigrants in a Swedish district court context. Drawing on two ethnographically informed research projects focused on courtroom interaction during more than 20 trials dealing with ‘domestic violence’ and ‘street-related crime’, we claim that immigrant voices are often silenced due to taken-for-granted practices in court. Through analyses of interviews, performances, interpreted hearings and references to a desirable Swedishness, it is argued that situations are created where immigrant participants may experience their possibility of being understood as limited and their voices as being unheard. Such conditions are emotionally draining and may result in participants choosing silence over stating their case. This is a problem, not only within the individual court case, but also for the overall legitimacy of the court system and for issues of institutional trust among citizens.

Expulsion on Account of Criminal Offences: Swedish District Court Practice 1973–2008

This article examines the implementation of expulsion because of criminality, via a quantitative study of all convictions involving expulsion in Swedish district courts during 1973–2008. Central questions are how the number of expulsions has changed over time, and how this trend can be understood in relation to legislative changes, numbers convicted, and possible changes in patterns of convictions among foreign citizens. The study also examines the offences associated with the use of expulsion and the sanctions awarded to offenders in addition to expulsion. The article shows that expulsion practice in several aspects differs between persons who are and are not registered as residents in Sweden. The number of expelled persons that are residents in Sweden follows the number of convicted foreign nationals, whereas the number of expelled among non-resident convicted foreign citizens increases over time. This increase cannot be explained by an increase in convictions or by legislative changes. The results also shows that residents have over time come to be expelled for increasingly serious offences and less often, relatively speaking, for various types of theft offences. Non-residents, in their turn, have been expelled for more or less the same proportion of different types of crime over time, but in increasing numbers.

The Pirate Bay, Grokster, and Google

The Pirate Bay. Three simple words. Such strong reactions. Proponents point to a vibrant forum for distributing files. Critics lament the massive pirating of copyrighted works.The Swedish district court recently found The Pirate Bay (TPB) guilty of making copyrighted works available. This article explores the consequences of this decision. It first explains the technology underlying TPB and provides an overview of the website. It then analyzes the court’s opinion. Next, it applies the opinion’s reasoning to the Google search engine and the activities at issue in MGM v. Grokster.The article finds that Google would potentially be liable and Grokster would likely be liable under the analysis of the TPB opinion. It concludes that the court’s broad views of complicity could, if adopted, have powerful effects in future cases.

Att prata ihop sig i rätten

Negotiating experience in the courtHow do judges assess witness credibility, and how do they proceed to reach sustainable conclusions in a criminal court? This article is based on discussions in four focus groups with lay judges in Swedish district courts. In criminal court trials, a version of an event is generally reinforced if it is confirmed by witnesses. However, if their narratives are too similar, none of them is found trustworthy. The focus group participants agreed that if witnesses were suspected of having discussed their individual experiences of an event and accommodated them into a common story, their testimonies were not considered credible. While testimonies should ideally be untainted by other people’s impressions and opinions, other rules govern the truth of the court. The lay judges appreciated their deliberations, including negotiations on impressions and memories of the trial, and they sometimes adjusted their perceptions in the light of information provided by other members of the court. However, if the lay judges are viewed as witnesses of what takes place in the trial, this gives rise to a paradox: While witness negotiations on experiences are regarded as a means to construct a false or biased story, the same kind of interaction between the judges is considered necessary to establish a consensual truth of what actually happened.

Feature: Issues on female genital mutilation/cutting—progress and parallels

Kelly Morris is a freelance writer/ researcher, with particular interests in sexual health, environmental issues and medicine, and neurosciences. In her spare time, she loves music and dancing, cookery, and walking in the countryside, where she forages for wild food.

Delayed disclosure and disrupted communication during forensic investigation of child sexual abuse: a study of 47 corroborated cases.

To study factors of relevance for the understanding of disclosure of child sexual abuse. Cases from a Swedish district court involving 47 children in which allegations of child sexual abuse had been corroborated by a confession from the defendant were studied. Delayed disclosure was related to a close relationship with the perpetrator and young age at the first experience of abuse. Disrupted communication during the police interview was related to less violent abuse. The findings highlight the importance of social factors in children's disclosure of sexual abuse.

Child Sexual Abuse: Expert Testimony in Swedish District Courts

This study investigated the participation of expert witnesses (psychological, psychiatric, and medical) in criminal cases regarding allegations of child sexual abuse in Sweden. All criminal cases (n = 648) from 1985, 1989, and 1992 were reviewed with regard to the participation of expert witnesses, their professional backgrounds, and conclusions. Logistic regression models were applied to the data to explore factors associated with expert witness participation, and factors associated with a conviction against the defendant's denial, respectively. The majority of psychological experts supported the abuse allegations. The use of expert witnesses for psychological issues decreased (25%, 25%, and 15% of the cases each year). The results provide a descriptive platform for psycholegal practices in child sexual abuse cases in Sweden.

The presence of psychiatric consultations in relation to divorce.

In this study all couples who during a period of 1 year were divorced at a Swedish district court, and who had children living at home, were examined for psychiatric consultations before, during and after the divorce period. Psychiatric consultation was defined as having a psychiatric record at the only psychiatric clinic in the catchment area. The divorced couples were compared with a matched group of married people. The results showed that there was a 4.1-fold higher risk for divorced men and a 2.5-fold higher risk for divorced women of acquiring a psychiatric record. The increased rate of psychiatric consultations was evident before as well as after the divorce period, but was most striking during the divorce period. A greater proportion of men than women started and continued to experience their psychiatric problems before and during the divorce period, while women more often started and continued to experience their psychiatric problems during the divorce period and afterwards.