Historic Court Ruling: Swedish State Guilty of Ethnic Registration

From left: John Stauffer Legal Director of Civil Rights Defenders, Fred Taikon and Adam Szoppe – two of the more than 4700 persons who were registered.

The Swedish State is guilty of ethnic registration according to the ruling in the Svea Court of Appeal, 28 April 2017. Civil Rights Defenders wins the case and holds the Swedish State accountable for the police’s registration of Swedish Roma citizens.

The Svea Court of Appeal announced its ruling shortly after 11 am Swedish time. It confirms  – as previously stated in the Stockholm District Court on 10 June 2016 – that the Swedish State is guilty of ethnic registration for registering several thousand Roma individuals in a much-criticized database.

“This ruling is very important from an historical point of view – for our clients, for the 4 700 other individuals who were included in the register, and for Roma individuals in the society at large. The Svea Court of Appeal has understood and highlighted this issue; now it is up to the police and other authorities to actively work to ensure that discrimination of Roma and other ethnic minorities are excluded from their work”, says John Stauffer, Legal Director at Civil Rights Defenders.

The state is now ordered to pay 30 000 SEK in damages to each of the eleven Roma individuals whom Civil Rights Defenders represented in the legal proceedings.

Read the decisions by Stockholm District Court and Svea Court of Appeal (only available in Swedish).

The following information is only available in Swedish:

Information om skadestånd:

Civil Rights Defenders jobbar för att alla ska få upprättelse för etnisk diskriminering och registrering, vi betalar inte ut skadestånd.

Fanns du med i registret och har frågor om utbetalning av skadestånd? Klicka på den här länken för mer information och instruktioner för hur du går till väga för att få ersättning.

Du kan även kontakta Justitiekanslern på telefonnummer 08 405 10 00. Telefontider till kansliet: vardagar 9.00-12.00 och 13.00-14.30.

Fanns du inte med i registret och har frågor om utbetalning av skadestånd?

Kontakta Säkerhets och integritetsskyddsnämnden på telefonnummer 08-617 98 00.

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