Pre-trial detention in Scandinavia: practice, policy and politics

• In Event: Pre-trial detention and bail

Abstract

Within comparative criminology, the Scandinavian countries—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—are often highlighted as models of progressive penal policies. This image has been challenged by punitive policy shifts and by an overlooked aspect of their criminal justice systems: pre-trial detention. This paper examines key trends in pre-trial detention in Scandinavia, drawing on statistics, reports from human rights monitoring bodies, and analyses of political reforms. Despite relatively low incarceration rates, the Scandinavian countries maintain comparatively high pre-trial detention rates. Furthermore, particularly in Sweden and Denmark, pre-trial detainees face severely restrictive conditions and impoverished regimes, often amounting to solitary confinement. By examining similarities and differences in pre-trial detention policy and practice across a region with similar histories, socio-political structures and criminal justice systems, the paper offers insights into the dynamics of pre-trial detention in Scandinavia and beyond.

Author

• Emeli Lönnqvist, Department of Criminology, Stockholm University