Ska Sverige införa ett svenskt kronvittnessystem? En studie om kronvittnen och i vilken utsträckning ett sådant system kan bidra till att bekämpa den organiserade brottsligheten.

Abstract: Organized crime has received much attention in Sweden the last decade and it is seen as a big threat against the society. In 2007 the government emphasized the importance to fight this type of criminality by taking a first initiative towards a national campaign against organized crime. Further the Minister of Justice wants to investigate whether it is possible to introduce a crown witness system in Sweden. The system means that a defendant who reveals essential information regarding another person’s crime can thereby get reduction of sentence. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibilities for such a system to fulfill the purpose of reducing organized crime by receiving information and prosecute the real culprits in these circuits. I’ve fulfilled my purpose by interviewing former criminals and a police and analyzed the material by applying Robert K Merton’s functional analysis to see what potential functions and dysfunctions a crown witness system can lead to. My conclusion is that a crown witness system can lead to potential functions as more information about organized crime. A crown witness system can also lead to potential dysfunctions, where false testimony, more violence, lack of confidence for the police may occur. In my study my material has shown that organized crime is best understood as networks rather than organizations. According to the fact that they’re networks prosecution is not an effective way to reduce organized crime. By focusing on prosecution crown witness system can be seen as a potential dysfunction because it will not favour the purpose to reduce organized crime. According to this there can be difficulties in the purpose to reduce organized crime by using a crown witness system.