The Swedish government has proposed a bill that would force municipalities and schools, among others, to disclose information to law enforcement agencies. This means that schools, for example, will have to provide information on their own initiative and on request.
On 26 September, the Swedish government announced that it had decided on a new bill that proposes that state authorities, municipalities, regions and schools should be obliged to disclose information to the authorities working to combat crime. These include the Swedish Economic Crime Authority (Ekobrottsmyndigheten), the Swedish Coast Guard (Kustbevakningen), the Swedish Police Authority (Polismyndigheten), the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket), the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), Swedish Customs (Tullverket) and the Swedish Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten).
– To push back organised crime, it is crucial that key actors can share information effectively and easily. Today, there are too many obstacles to this – authorities and other actors cannot or dare not share information with each other. Through the bill adopted by the Government today, we are continuing to remove obstacles to confidentiality in order to improve society’s ability to prevent and combat crime, and this is particularly important for breaking the recruitment of children and young people into gangs, said Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer at a press conference.
This means that schools, for example, must disclose information about pupils both on their own initiative and at the request of the authorities. Social services and healthcare will not be covered to the same extent, but they also want more opportunities to disclose information.
It is also proposed that banks be forced to disclose information on request. All government agencies, except the FRA, will be obliged to disclose information.
The bills are proposed to enter into force already on 1 January 2025.
