Cultural expertise in criminal cases – Experiences of a public prosecutor

In my line of work, I frequently come across cases requiring me to understand and evaluate different cultural practices and beliefs. From reindeer herding to forced marriage, cultural expertise permeates many of the cases I prosecute. In my talk, I will present a few interesting cases I’ve come across during my career, and highlight their intercultural aspects, along with how we/I acquired the cultural expertise necessary to properly prosecute these cases. I will also touch upon how the Swedish criminal justice system as a whole seeks to handle matters of cultural expertise. In the talk, I will offer my personal professional perspectives, and not necessarily those of my employer

Håkan Andersson is a Public Prosecutor at the Swedish Prosecution Authority. He holds a Master of Laws from Stockholm University (2008). His professional career has involved being a clerk at the District Court of Gallivare 2011-2013 and a prosecutor since 2013. His areas of professional field experience include criminal investigations, penal court procedures, crimes within the family/close relations and corporate crime.  His professional achievements include being a regional contact for IT-related crimes as well as regional designee for forestry crime and animal cruelty/mistreatment.