{"id":16889,"date":"2024-11-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kliently.se\/?post_type=nyheter&#038;p=16889"},"modified":"2025-07-09T21:46:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:46:28","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-a-private-and-a-public-prosecution","status":"publish","type":"nyheter","link":"https:\/\/kliently.se\/en\/news\/whats-the-difference-between-a-private-and-a-public-prosecution\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s the difference between a private and a public prosecution?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Sweden, there are two main ways to bring charges against someone who&#8217;s committed a crime.&nbsp;These different types of prosecution serve different purposes and follow different rules and procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Public prosecution \u2013 the responsibility of society<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this case, a prosecutor brings charges on behalf of society. This applies to the vast majority of crimes, such as assault, theft, fraud, and drug offenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aklagare.se\/en\">prosecutor<\/a> evaluates the evidence and decides whether there are sufficient grounds for prosecution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the evidence is strong enough \u2013 and there is public interest \u2013 the prosecutor is obligated to proceed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The prosecutor leads the process, and the victim is considered the injured party in court.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Private prosecution \u2013 when the victim takes action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The victim can personally file a summons application with the district court in cases like defamation or insult. A private prosecution can also occur when a prosecutor decides not to take a case further, but the victim wants to pursue it independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in some exceptional cases, the prosecutor may still decide to take the case to court. This applies when the crime is particularly serious or if there is a strong public interest. In these cases, since it&#8217;s the prosecutor who acts, the case is treated as public \u2013 even if the offense is usually handled through private prosecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you initiate a private prosecution, you&#8217;re responsible for gathering evidence, calling witnesses, and applying for an official summons. You will have to pay a fee and can also be required to cover the opposing party\u2019s legal costs if you lose the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Private prosecutions are less common and can be both legally and financially demanding. That\u2019s why many choose to consult a lawyer in these situations. It\u2019s important to understand the differences and how the process works, especially if you&#8217;re a <a href=\"https:\/\/kliently.se\/en\/services\/victim-of-a-crime\/\">crime victim<\/a> and the prosecutor chooses not to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-separates-the-two\">What separates the two?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-stripes\"><table class=\"has-light-pink-background-color has-background has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Characteristic<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Public Prosecution<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Private Prosecution<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\"><strong>Initiated and led by<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Prosecutor<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Victim (injured party)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\"><strong>Common crime types<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Violent crimes, drug offenses, etc.<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Defamation, insult<\/td><\/tr><tr><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\"><strong>Cost to the victim<\/strong><\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">None<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Filing fee + risk of covering legal costs<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"pink-bold-span\">Do you need legal help?<\/h3>\n    <p class=\"cta-block-intro\">\n        We have several lawyers who can help you with this. Book an appointment if you have questions and need counseling, or email us to hire one of the lawyers. <strong>We recommend:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/kliently.se\/en\/lawyers\/sofia-hollstrom\/\">Sofia Hollstr\u00f6m<\/a>    <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-buttons numbut2 cta-block\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<a href=\"mailto:info@kliently.se\" class=\"price-online bluearticlebutton\" id=\"articles-email-ENG\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"article-button-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button-icon-left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg version=\"1.1\" id=\"Layer_1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t viewBox=\"0 0 20 14\" xml:space=\"preserve\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<g>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path class=\"icon-mail\" d=\"M9.5,8.1c0.4,0.4,1,0.4,1.4,0l7.9-7.9C18.6,0.1,18.3,0,18,0H2C1.8,0,1.6,0,1.5,0.1L9.5,8.1z\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path class=\"icon-mail\" d=\"M12.3,9.5c-0.6,0.6-1.4,0.9-2.1,0.9c-0.8,0-1.5-0.3-2.1-0.9l-8-8C0,1.7,0,1.8,0,2v10c0,1.1,0.9,2,2,2h16\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tc1.1,0,2-0.9,2-2V2c0,0,0-0.1,0-0.1L12.3,9.5z\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/g>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Email us: info@kliently.se<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>  \n\t\t \t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"price-online open-booking-modal pinkarticlebutton\" id=\"articles-appdownload-ENG\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"article-button-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button-icon-left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg version=\"1.1\" id=\"Layer_1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t viewBox=\"0 0 11.9 20.4\" xml:space=\"preserve\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<path class=\"icon-mail\" d=\"M9.9,0H2C0.9,0,0,0.9,0,2v16.4c0,1.1,0.9,2,2,2h7.9c1.1,0,2-0.9,2-2V2C11.9,0.9,11,0,9.9,0z M5.9,17.9\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tc-0.8,0-1.5-0.7-1.5-1.5s0.7-1.5,1.5-1.5s1.5,0.7,1.5,1.5S6.8,17.9,5.9,17.9z\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Book a video meeting with a lawyer today<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t \t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Sweden, there are two main ways to bring charges against someone who&#8217;s committed a crime.&nbsp;These different types of prosecution serve different purposes and follow different rules and procedures. Public prosecution \u2013 the responsibility of society In this case, a prosecutor brings charges on behalf of society. This applies to the vast majority of crimes, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"omrade":[155,247],"class_list":["post-16889","nyheter","type-nyheter","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","omrade-lawyers-explain","omrade-personal-matters"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What&#039;s the difference between a private and a public prosecution? - Kliently<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Sweden, there are two main ways to bring charges against someone who&#039;s committed a crime, by private and public prosecution.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kliently.se\/en\/news\/whats-the-difference-between-a-private-and-a-public-prosecution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What&#039;s the difference between a private and a public prosecution? 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