Defense attorney

Defense attorney in Stockholm and the rest of Sweden

When you are the suspect of a crime, you are in most cases entitled to a public defender. You can request which law firm or attorney you want to represent you. You do this by informing the police or prosecutor of your preferred choice.

A public defender is reimbursed by the state. The general rule is that a person convicted of a crime must reimburse the costs of a public defender to the state. This depends on the crime for which you were convicted, your personal and financial situation, the outcome of the case and the potential sentence. The court may decide that you have to pay back all, part or none of your defense costs. If you have no income or are sentenced to a longer prison term, the cost is normally borne by the state.

Our attorneys undertake assignments as defense attorneys in all types of criminal cases. At Olsson Lilja Attorneys we always do our utmost to protect your interests and ensure that you receive fair treatment from the police, prosecutors and judges. Regardless of the size of the case, you will always have an attorney or a legal associate with you during police interrogations and other important investigative measures. We always strive to provide the best possible defense for our clients.

Who has the right to a public defender?

If you are suspected of a crime and are arrested or detained, you always have the right to a public defender. You also have the right to an attorney if you are suspected of a crime for which the minimum statutory penalty is six months' imprisonment.

In addition, you have the right to a defense if:

it is necessary for the investigation of the crime,
there is doubt as to which penalty to choose and there are grounds for imposing a penalty other than a fine and/or a suspended sentence; or
there are special reasons because of your personal circumstances or the nature of the case.

It is the court that assesses whether you are entitled to a public defender under any of the latter three points. If you are unsure of what applies, you can contact us at Olsson Lilja Attorneys before requesting a public defender. We offer free advice.

Interrogation

As a criminal suspect, you should never be questioned by the police without a defense attorney present. If you have been notified of a suspicion and have been summoned for questioning, you can call the police and tell them which law firm or attorney you want. The police will then notify the court, which will decide whether to appoint the attorney for you.

If you have been assigned a defense attorney from us at Olsson Lilja Attorneys, we will discuss the case with you before the hearing. We go through what happens during a police interrogation and are then with you during the interrogation. We safeguard your rights and handle the contact with the police, prosecutor and court.

Sometimes the police summon you for questioning without notifying you of a suspected crime. If you attend a police interview and are served with a suspected crime during the interview, you can say that you do not want to continue the interview without an attorney present. You can tell the police at the scene which attorney you want. Remember that as a suspect you are never obliged to answer the police's questions during an interrogation.

Change of public defender

If you have been assigned a defense attorney with whom you are dissatisfied, you can request a change. You should send a request for change to the court. In your request, you should describe why you are dissatisfied and want to change. It is a good idea to first contact the attorney you want to switch to.

It is not always the case that the court grants the request for switching. If you want to switch to an attorney at Olsson Lilja Attorneys, you are welcome to contact us and we will help you review the possibilities of switching.

Private attorney

If you are not entitled to a public defender, you can hire a private defender. You can also hire a private defender if you want to change your public defender to someone else, but the court does not allow it. Another situation where private defense can be used is in the case of an application for an annulment.

When hiring a private defender, you pay for the attorney's work yourself. How much it costs depends, among other things, on how much time the assignment requires.

Suspected of a crime - frequently asked questions:

For example, body searches can be used to search for items, such as stolen goods or drugs, which the police are entitled to seize. It may also involve the police taking samples, such as urine or blood. Body searches may not take place when you are being investigated for a crime if you are under 15 years old.

The police are legally entitled to carry out a body search if there is a reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime for which imprisonment may follow. Reasonable suspicion means that there must be concrete, objectively substantiated circumstances that indicate with some strength that you have committed the act to which the suspicion relates. The fact that someone behaves strangely, acts nervously or avoids contact with the police cannot in itself be considered a basis for suspicion of a crime. There must be specific circumstances and the suspicion must relate to a specific crime.

If a police officer believes that you are showing symptoms typical of drug use, this may be enough to make you a reasonable suspect for a drug crime. Since drug offenses carry a prison sentence, the police have the right to ask you to provide a urine sample. If you don't want to give a urine sample, you usually have the right to request a blood sample instead.

A person who is suspected on probable grounds of a crime punishable by at least one year's imprisonment may be remanded in custody if the court considers that there is a risk that the person will abscond, remove evidence or continue to commit crimes. The court can also order detention if the person is not registered in Sweden and there is a risk that the person will leave the country. Similarly, under certain conditions, the court can order the detention of a person who is only reasonably suspected of a crime if it is important to do so to await further investigation of the crime. It is the prosecutor who requests detention by submitting a petition for detention to the court. This is followed by a detention hearing. At the hearing, you will be represented by your defense attorney. A decision to remand you in custody can be appealed.

If the court grants the remand request, the prosecutor can also, with the court's permission, order restrictions. Restrictions are imposed when it is considered that there is a risk that the detainee will suppress evidence or obstruct the investigation from custody. Restrictions must be used sparingly and must not go beyond what is necessary. As with detention, decisions on restrictions can be appealed.

The sentence imposed by the court depends on the nature of the crime, the seriousness of the crime and whether there are any mitigating or aggravating circumstances. The court also considers whether you have been convicted of a crime before. Each crime has a sentencing scale, which sets the limits of the punishment you can receive.

Example: For normal drunk driving, the penalty is a fine or imprisonment for a maximum of 6 months. If the circumstances of the crime are minor, the penalty is usually a fine. The amount of the fine is calculated on the basis of your annual income. If the court considers that the circumstances were so serious that a fine is not sufficient as a punishment, imprisonment may be an option. However, the court has an obligation to try to choose a suspended sentence or probation as an alternative to imprisonment. If the court does not consider a conditional sentence or probation to be sufficiently proportionate to the crime, a prison sentence may be considered. The prison sentence cannot be set for more than six months.

You can be held in custody for a maximum of 14 days before a new custody hearing must be held. If the court finds that there no longer are sufficient grounds for detention, you will be released from detention. If the court finds that there are still grounds for detention, you will be kept in detention. In Sweden there is no maximum limit for how long a suspect can be held in custody. However, there is a safety valve in the law that says you can only be detained for 9 months. Only if there are exceptional reasons can the period of detention exceed that. It is therefore important that your defense attorney protects your interests and works to ensure that the preliminary investigation does not take longer than necessary.

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