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Politics of Sweden

The Committee on the Constitution (Swedish: konstitutionsutskottet) (KU) is a parliamentary committee in the Swedish Riksdag. The committee's responsibilities include examining issues relating to the Swedish Constitution and Administrative laws, as well as examining the Prime Minister's performance of duties and the handling of government matters. The committee's activities are regulated by the Riksdag.

Given the committee's significant power, it has been agreed since 1991 that the Speaker of the committee shall come from the opposition party. Since October 2022, the Speaker of the committee has been Ida Karkiainen from the Social Democratic Party, and the vice-Speaker of the committee is "to be elected" from the Moderate Party.

The committee is made up of seventeen elected members of the Riksdag with representation from all political parties.

History

The first Swedish legislative committee founded for the purpose of watching over the constitution was in May 1809, at the time of the Riksdag of the Estates. The committee played an important role in the development of the new form of government that was adopted on 6 June in the same year. The first Speaker of the committee was Lars August Mannerheim, and the first Secretary of the committee was Hans Järta.

The committee was permanently established by the Instrument of Government, §53, in 1809, which describes the committee's function:

To bring issues concerning changes in the constitutions and opinions thereof to the attention of the estates of the state, and to review the minutes kept by the Government

Its tasks are similarly set out by §§ 105-107 of the Riksdagsstadgan (parliamentary rules):

The principal function remains unchanged, but a function has to adapt itself to modern society's conditions and the change in state.

Tasks

The Constitution Committee shall examine the performance of the duties of the Prime Minister and the handling of government matters. The committee has the right to obtain for review the minutes of decisions in government matters, documents that belong to these matters, and the government's other documents that the committee finds necessary for its review. Other committees and each member of the Riksdag may raise questions in writing with the Constitution Committee about the Minister's performance of duties or the handling of government matters. Law: (2010: 1408).

— Kungörelse (1974:152),

The concerns of the Committee on the Constitution are the Swedish constitutions and the Riksdag's rules of procedure, and the committee is an important element of the Riksdag's power. The committee oversees legislation on the constitution and administrative law; on television, radio and film; press and party support; the Riksdag, offices in the Riksdag, such as the National Audit Office and the Ombudsman (but not the Riksbank); review of government ministers; freedom of the press and expression; municipal self-government; opinion formation; and freedom of religion.

The Committee submits so-called KU-anmälningar (Constitutional Committee reports). The ongoing review is presented annually in a report, called the review report, formerly known as the "discharge report" (Swedish: dechargebetänkandet). When a report about a person is sent to the committee, a hearing is then held. Since 1988, the public has been allowed to witness these hearings. It is common for the committee to criticize a government minister after a hearing, resulting in a vote of no confidence. The committee also has the last word in certain deliberations prior to a Riksdag decision.

Impeachments

If impeachment should proceed against a government minister, it would be the Committee that decides this. The case would then go to Sweden's Supreme Court. The last time a minister was impeached in Sweden was during the mid-1800s, under the now-defunct impeachment law (Riksrätt [sv]).

List of chairmen for the committee

Chairmen before 1971 (bicameral Riksdag)

• 1809/1810: Lars August Mannerheim
• 1823: Baltzar von Platen
• 1828/1830: Lars August Mannerheim
• 1834/1835: Jakob Cederström
• 1840/1841: Carl Henrik Anckarsvärd
• 1851–1858:Gustaf Lagerbjelke
• 1859/1860, 1862/1863, 1867/1871: Thomas Munck af Rosenschöld
• 1871 (urtima Riksdag [sv]): Gustaf af Ugglas
• 1872/1875: Thomas Munck af Rosenschöld
• 1876–1887B: Magnus Hallenborg
• 1888:Gunnar Wennerberg
• 1888–1898: Oscar Bergius
• 1899: Gustaf Åkerhielm
• 1900–1901: Gustaf Rudebeck
• 1902–1905 (Lagtima [sv] riksdagen): Hugo Blomberg
• 1906–1908: Hugo Blomberg
• 1909–1910: Karl Staaff
• 1911: Ernst Trygger
• 1912: Carl Carlsson Bonde
• 1912: Theodor af Callerholm
• 1913–1917: Nils Edén
• 1918: Otto Mannheimer
• 1918 (urtima Riksdag): Jakob Pettersson
• 1919 (urtima Riksdag): Jakob Pettersson
• 1919 (urtima Riksdag)–1921: Viktor Larsson in Västerås
• 1922–1923: Sam Clason
• 1924: Viktor Larsson in Västerås
• 1925–1929: Knut von Geijer
• 1930–1938: Carl Axel Reuterskiöld
• 1939 (lagtima riksdagen)–1958 (B): Harald Hallén
• 1959–1964: Bengt Elmgren
• 1965–1972: Georg Pettersson

After 1971 (unicameral Riksdag)

List of vice-chairmen for the committee

Vice-chairmen before 1971 (bicameral Riksdag)

• Johan Sjöberg 1869
• Lars Johan Hierta 1871U
• Pehr von Ehrenheim 1872 -1973
• Magnus Hallenborg 1874 - 1875
• Johan Sjöberg 1876 - 1878
• Johan Nordenfalk 1879 - 1880
• Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld 1884 - 1885
• Per Siljeström 1886
• Axel Ljungman 1887A
• Johan Sjöberg 1887B
• Axel Ljungman 1891 - 1899
• Fredrik Barnekow 1900 - 1905L
• Gullbrand Elowson 1905 1U - 1906
• Theodor af Callerholm 1907 - 1909
• Johan Fredrik Nyström 1910
• Theodor af Callerholm 1911
• Hjalmar Branting 1912 - 1914A
• Sam Clason 1914B - 1917
• Viktor Larsson in Västerås 1918L - 1918U
• Sam Clason 1919 - 1921
• Arthur Engberg 1922 - 1923
• Knut von Geijer 1925
• Arthur Engberg 1926 - 1928
• Harald Hallén 1933 - 1938
• Anton Pettersson 1939L - 1939U
• Gustaf Adolf Björkman 1940 - 1940U
• Jones Erik Andersson 1941 - 1951
• John Pettersson 1952 -1960
• Torsten Andersson 1961 - 1968
• Gunnar Larsson 1969 - 1971

After 1971 (unicameral Riksdag)

References

1. Utrikes namnbok. [Elektronisk resurs] : svenska myndigheter, organisationer, titlar, EU- och EG-organ, EU-titlar och länder på engelska, tyska, franska, spanska, finska och ryska (PDF) (in Swedish) (9th, rev. ed.). Stockholm: Utrikesdepartementet, Regeringskansliet. 2013. p. 19. SELIBR 14986186.
2. "Regeringsformen". riksarkivet.se.
3. "Kungörelse (1974:152) om beslutad ny regeringsform 13 kapitel [on deciding on a new form of government, Chapter 13]", lagen.nu. Accessed the September 30, 2020.
4. The 15 parliamentary committees
5. dechargebetänkande sv.wiktionary.org
6. "Konstitutionsutskottet". riksdagen.se. Retrieved 2 October 2020. Riksdagens ledamöter har rätt att anmäla ministrarna i regeringen till KU
7. Bokefors, Jesper. "Riksrätten". lup.lub.lu.se (in Swedish). Lund University: Lund University. p. 93 (8.3.2 Reformförslag) §6. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
8. Swedish Misplaced Pages on impeachments
9. Uppsalapolitiker föreslås till ordförandepost i KU Archive 2018-09-28

Further reading

• Stig Hadenius, Riksdagen : En svensk historia (Stockholm, 1994)
• Riksdagsordningen och Regeringsformen, 1809 års regeringsform

External links

• Riksdagen - Konstitutionsutskottet
• Riksdag website
• Constitution Committee website
• svt.se Background: Så arbetar konstitutionsutskottet (Swedish: How the Constitution Committee works) May 24, 2007

• Committees of the Riksdag