Ministry of Justice Sweden

High level regional seminar on “Strategies, Tools and Capacities for administrative simplification” Cairo 20 and 21 June 2007

Tools to simplify the LegislationThe Swedish Experience

Sunset and guillotine rules Clear language

Transparent proceduresAccess to legislation

Ministry of Justice Sweden

Rules and regulations - four levels

• Constitutional laws adopted by the Parliament

• Laws adopted by the Parliament

and with authorization by the Parliament

• Ordinances adopted by the Government

and with authorization by the Parliament and the

Government • Regulations adopted by the authorities

Ministry of Justice Sweden

Figures

• 3 679 laws and ordinances in effect on 1 March 2007

• 1 592 new or amended laws and ordinances adopted during 2006 (59 new laws and 119 new ordinances)

• approx. 8 100 regulations in effect on 31 December 2006

Ministry of Justice Sweden

The Process that precedes a new Act

The Government appoints a

committee/commission

of inquiry

The Government circulates the report

for comment

The Government drafts a proposal for change –

a Government bill

The committee presents its

proposals in a

report

The Government bill is submitted to the Riksdag (Swedish parliament)

for consideration

After the parliamentary committees have

discussed the matter,

a vote is taken in the Riksdag

Initiative for

change

The Government

promulgates a law, which is then

published in the Swedish Code of

Statutes (SFS)

Ministry of Justice Sweden

Guillotine and Sunset rules

• Immediate way to create a clear and accountable legal structure

• Guillotine rule – if regulations are not listed by a certain day the regulation is declared invalid

• Sunset rules – regulations is declared invalid by a certain future date

Ministry of Justice Sweden

Clear Language

A Swedish legal act • is divided into

chapters• has informative sub-

headings giving a clear picture of the structure and contents of the act

• uses no more than three paragraphs for each article

Plain language principles

• avoid complicated sentence structure

• avoid “legalese” and archaic words

• be generous with informative sub-headings

• explain difficult technical terms if needed

Ministry of Justice Sweden

Transparency

Basic rules • The Freedom of the

Press Act guarantees the citizens access to public documents

• The Secrecy Act protects specific information

The Legislative process • The Government's bills

are circulated among interested authorities and NGO: s for information and opinions before decision

• Preparatory documents are immediately published and available to the public

Ministry of Justice Sweden

Access to rules and regulations

• The Official Swedish Gazette contains laws and ordinances

• The Authorities´ Official gazettes contain regulations

• The Legal Information System www.lagrummet.se gives access to laws, ordinances, regulations, preparatory work, legal precedent etc.