Appeal Court "right to cut child rape compensation"
Sweden's Chancellor of Justice has said that the Court of Appeal was right to reduce the compensation paid out to a 14 year old girl who was raped.
The judgement was widely criticised by politicians and child rights organisations but after investigating the matter, Göran Lambertz said that the court did nothing wrong.
The Centre Party's Annika Qarlsson, a member of the parliamentary justice committee, reported the case to the Chancellor of Justice and requested an inquiry into whether the system itself had in some way failed the girl.
But Lambertz concluded that the court had been "just and intellectually irreproachable".
Instead, he said that the criticism of the court's decision was based on unfair media reporting.
"When unfounded criticisms are made by responsible politicians, there is a risk that confidence in the court is lost, without any reason," stated the Chancellor of Justice.
"That is worrying. Hopefully the criticism of the court will be more responsible from now on," he wrote.
In the case, the Court of Appeal sanctioned the two year prison sentence for the man who raped the 14 year old girl. But the compensation awarded to her was cut from 75,000 kronor to 50,000 kronor.
The court said that the violation associated with the rape of a minor could not be considered on a par with the rape of an adult.
TT/The Local
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The judgement was widely criticised by politicians and child rights organisations but after investigating the matter, Göran Lambertz said that the court did nothing wrong.
The Centre Party's Annika Qarlsson, a member of the parliamentary justice committee, reported the case to the Chancellor of Justice and requested an inquiry into whether the system itself had in some way failed the girl.
But Lambertz concluded that the court had been "just and intellectually irreproachable".
Instead, he said that the criticism of the court's decision was based on unfair media reporting.
"When unfounded criticisms are made by responsible politicians, there is a risk that confidence in the court is lost, without any reason," stated the Chancellor of Justice.
"That is worrying. Hopefully the criticism of the court will be more responsible from now on," he wrote.
In the case, the Court of Appeal sanctioned the two year prison sentence for the man who raped the 14 year old girl. But the compensation awarded to her was cut from 75,000 kronor to 50,000 kronor.
The court said that the violation associated with the rape of a minor could not be considered on a par with the rape of an adult.
TT/The Local
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