Research project Penalty Value – as a Legal Concept

The thesis examines the concept of penalty value (Sw. straffvärde), which is central for Swedish sentencing law. It is impossible to determine the penalty for a crime without establishing a penalty value, and the penalty value is usually of essential importance for how severe the sentence will be. It is not only courts that decide upon penalty values, the legislator also contributes by giving statutory minimum and maximum penalties – i.e. ‘penalty scales’ – for crimes. The purpose of the thesis is to categorise and systematise the reasons and assumptions underlying the assessment of penalty values. Given the penalty value’s fundamental role in justifying the level of criminal repression, such an approach can be considered warranted. At the heart of the investigation are two questions, namely: what the seriousness of the crime signifies and how the forces that determine the level of punishment are to be ascertained.