Färre i häkte och minskad isolering
Färre i häkte och minskad isolering, SOU 2016:52, is the official report of the Swedish Remand and Restrictions Inquiry. The local PDF preserves the 257-page report.
The inquiry concluded that Sweden used restrictions more widely than justified and likely exaggerated the risk that detainees without restrictions would obstruct investigations. It called for a fundamental change in the culture surrounding remand detention.
The report defines isolation as confinement for 22 to 24 hours a day without meaningful human contact. It records repeated criticism from United Nations and Council of Europe anti-torture bodies, summarizes research finding harm after only days, and states that complete isolation can destroy personality and constitute inhuman treatment. It also records the international position that isolation should be exceptional, a last resort, and used for the shortest possible time.
The report is now a reform baseline rather than a description of present conditions. The 2021 reforms adopted some time limits and review changes, but JO inspections of remand isolation show that material isolation persisted in 2026. More flexible remand and prison enforcement records a later policy turn toward legalizing capacity workarounds and removing the statutory starting right to a single room. The report grounds Swedish remand detention and restrictions and Duress credentials and coercive extraction.