Witness support
If you have seen or heard a crime, or know something important about a crime, then you are a witness. Witnessess are important and can be crucial to the resolution of a crime. To witness a crime can be overwhelming, and if you have to appear in court you might feel the need to talk to someone beforehand about your experience. We offer both witness support in court as well ass support talks without our trained advisors, via telephone or personal meetings. It doesn’t cost anything and you can contact us even if you haven’t reported anything to the police.
Do I have to testify?
The short answer is: yes. In Sweden we have an obligation to give evidence principle, which basically means that anyone can be obliged to appear in front of the court once the hearing starts and testify under oath. If you have seen or heard anything relating to a crime and the crime has been reported to the police, you might be called in to testify as a witness at a potential hearing. In most cases you will first be interrogated by the police in their preliminary investigation.
What do I do when I have been called to testify?
When you have been called as a witness it is important that you appear in the court ahead of time. Remember to bring your ID and to register in the reception upon arrival. As a witnss you will not sit in on the hearing before it is your time to testify, so do not enter the court room before the court announcer your name on the speakers.
Vill du ha stöd inför rättegången?
If you have questions, don’t know where to go or feel nervous, scared or worried to testify, our witness support advisors can help you.
Witness support advisors are volunteers who provide support and information to witnesses and victims in relation to the legal process. You can find witness support advisors at the court house, where they can inform you about what happens in the hearing, answer your questions and follow-up on your experience afterwards. They can also make sure that you can wait in a separate room, so you don’t have to meet the defendant or the victim outside of the court room. Every witness support advisor has gone through extensive training, signed a letter of confidence and their support doesn’t cost anything.
Do you need to talk to someone?
It can be traumatic to witness a crime, even if that crime doesn’t end up in trial. Victim Support Sweden offer support talks with trained advisors, via telephone or in person meetings. We offer support in over 20 different languages. You can find a complete list of the languages we offer here.
Contact us
In the court house
In court you can identify our witness support advisors by the name tags they wear, on which it says “witness support” or “vittnesstöd” in Swedish. They have a special room in the court house and are often present at peak times for witnesses to arrive. Some court houses also have a special reception for the witness support advisors. You can find the contact details for the witness support for each court house on the court houses’ own website.
Via phone or e-mail
Our national phoneline 116 006 is open everyday 09.00-19.00. You can also e-mail your question to fraga@boj.se and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
