Longer prison sentences for
serious violent crime in Sweden

An evaluation of the 2010 sentencing reform

In 2010, the Swedish Parliament passed a bill focused on increasing the severity of the sentences imposed for serious violent offences. Brå (the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention) has evaluated what effect the sentencing reform had produced.

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This report presents the results of the evaluation, and is organised on the basis of three central research questions:

Have the sentences imposed for serious violent offences become more severe
Has there been an increase in the degree of variation in the length of the sentences imposed?
Has the clarification of the requirement to consider recidivism produced any measurable effects?