Victim-offender mediation in Sweden is regulated by the Mediation Act (Medlingslagen 2002:445), which came into effect on July 1st 2002. The Act, which focuses primarily on young offenders, constitutes a piece of framework legislation and covers mediation organised by the state or by local authorities. According to the Act, the offence must first have been reported to the police, and the offender must have acknowledged his or her guilt before mediation can be initiated.

Participation in mediation is always voluntary for both parties. This is a necessary condition for a successful mediation meeting. Mediation does not constitute a penal sanction or an alternative to the regular justice system, but rather plays a complementary role. It is however possible for the prosecutor to take the fact that mediation has taken place into consideration in relation to the prosecution of young offenders.

The Mediation Process

It is usually the police, often the individual who has investigated the offence, who asks if the offender would be interested in mediation. If the youth expresses an interest, the case is forwarded to the mediation project, typically operated by the local authority. The mediator then contacts the youth in question, describes what the mediation process involves and asks if he/she would consider participating in a mediation meeting. After the offender agrees to do so, the mediator contacts the crime victim with the same question.

The mediation meeting is normally preceded by one or more preliminary meetings with the victim and the perpetrator by themselves, during which they are prepared for the mediation meeting. At the actual encounter, the crime is discussed and the parties are given the opportunity to describe their own version of what happened. The offender, for example, is given the opportunity to explain how the offence came to be committed, what he/she was thinking, and also to offer an apology. The victim is given the opportunity to ask questions of the perpetrator and to describe how he/she has been affected by the crime. Legal guardians or other support persons may be present at both the preliminary meetings and the mediation meeting.

Certain mediation cases conclude with an agreement on how the offender will make amends. This may involve some form of economic compensation, compensation in the form of work conducted by the offender, or a contract relating to future behaviour.

As a rule, mediation is conducted within the social services, and social workers often carry out the tasks of the mediator as part of their routine work. Some mediation projects also employ lay-mediators who are paid a fee on a per case basis.   

The Task of the National Council for Crime Prevention

The Government has commissioned the National Council for Crime Prevention (Brottsförebyggande rådet – Brå) to develop mediation activities in Sweden so that they are conducted to a high quality and will in time become available throughout the country. This task was assigned to the Council in 2003, and has since been renewed for the years 2004 to 2006. The National Council’s task involves distributing financial support to local authorities to initiate or to develop existing mediation projects, to provide training for mediators and to assume responsibility for improvements in the methods and quality of mediation.

The State of Mediation in Sweden Today

The first mediation projects in Sweden began at the end of the 1980s, but until the end of the 1990s, mediation was conducted on only a limited scale.

Mediation is presently available in more then half of Sweden’s local authority areas, covering over two-thirds of the national population. Mediation projects vary both organisationally and in terms of their size – from small, individual local authorities to collaborative projects organised at the regional level. The mediation projects involve different partners, such as the police, prosecutors, the social services, other local authorities, schools and victim support agencies. Cases are usually forwarded to mediation projects by the police or the social services.

Of the cases initiated by mediation projects, 74 per cent have been seen through to completion. The most common offence types in mediation cases are shoplifting, assault and vandalism. Other common offence types include various categories of theft, threatening behaviour, robberies from shops and muggings. 

Often the cases involve offenders who have committed crimes against individual victims. The majority of the offenders who have participated in mediation are between fourteen and seventeen years of age. Two-thirds are boys and one-third are girls. The high proportion of girls/women compared with their relative presence in the criminal justice system is in part due to the large number of shoplifting offences.

In approximately 40 per cent of mediation cases, the victims have been private individuals. In the remaining cases, the victims have been companies, shops and stores or other public establishments. Thos victims who are private individuals have been between six and 88 years of age. Slightly over half are boys/men, among whom the offences are most commonly assault, harassment and threatening behaviour. Of the cases going to mediation, 40 per cent have been concluded with some form of contractual agreement. The majority of these contracts relate to future behaviour, but contracts specifying financial compensation or work are also common.

Mediation in the Future

Many local authorities are too small to be able to maintain a mediation project of their own. In order to produce high-quality and effective mediation, it may be that small local authorities will collaborate with one another. Police and prosecutors are very important in the establishment of mediation, making it essential to work closely with these actors.

While the Mediation Act allows mediation in the majority of offence types, victimless crimes, sexual offences, and serious acts of violence against close relations are deemed to be inappropriate. Studies show that the best results are produced in relation to offences where there is a victim who has personally been violated by the offence. This means that mediation projects should primarily be focused on offences of this kind. Those mediation projects that deal with a high proportion of shoplifting cases might instead consider a simplified form of mediation, something which certain of them are already practising today.

The agreements entered into are legally binding. This is true even in relation to verbal agreements. However, the issue of contracts is complicated and has been the subject of relatively little investigation. No proper guidelines have as yet been put in place in this area. If mediation takes place prior to court proceedings, it is important to find out whether the victim may be awarded damages by the courts. In such cases, consultation with the prosecutor is particularly important. Contracts relating to financial compensation are more appropriate in the case of offences that do not involve personal injuries.

Mediation is confidential and is covered by confidentiality legislation. There are no obstacles to the police providing information to mediation projects organised under the auspices of the social services, since the social services are an agency that the police, in accordance with Paragraph 3 of the Police Act, are to work particularly closely with.


Lottie Wahlin
Swedish National Council from Crime Prevention
August 2006