Plea Bargaining Changing Nordic Criminal Procedure: Sweden and Finland as Examples

A plea bargaining system is a novelty and originally a legal transplant in Northern European countries. It exists—in some form—for instance in Finland, Norway and Denmark, whereas in Sweden only the system of crown witnesses is likely to be introduced. In this chapter plea bargaining is put into the East-Nordic—Finnish and Swedish—contexts. How does plea bargaining fit into the East-Nordic court culture? Which ingredients does the contemporary legal culture consist of? In which way is court culture changing due to the new values in the society? Or are the amendments made primarily to reduce the costs of the state? Fairness, procedural justice, conflict resolution, negotiated law, pragmatically acceptable compromise, procedural truth, court service, communication and interaction are examples of the topics that are currently discussed in Finland and Sweden. At the same time, the use of written proceedings and proceedings in the absence of an accused are increasing. Is the plea bargaining system a step towards a more effective and economic criminal procedural system or is it mirroring new type of thinking concerning criminal proceedings? In this chapter, these elements are discussed. Finland is used as a main example. The Finnish situation is also compared with Sweden.