Swedish International Legal Aid The total allotment for Swedish development assistance for the year 2002 is approximately 15 billion crowns. Of this amount, the Swedish foreign aid agency, Sida, will receive approximately 75%, that is, around 11 billion crowns. The remaining amount is destined to finance several different multilateral organs as well as individual organisations. Generally, Swedish development assistance has been relatively limited, with the exception of co-operation with Central and Eastern Europe. In order to strengthen Swedish resources, improve political commitment for assistance, and achieve some co-ordination in the area of legal development between the legal institutions in Sweden, the Committee for Development Assistance in the area of law (KUR) was established in December of 1996. The KUR Committee submitted a final report (SOU 1999:32) in March of 1999 in which the judicial system and strengthening of the functions of the rule of law were mentioned as areas of particular priority for Swedish development assistance in the future. Democracy and human rights were said to be central aspects of this development assistance. During the spring of 2001, the government reported an increase in demand for collaboration of the Swedish judicial system within international co-operation to strengthen the rule of law in other countries. As this demand is expected to increase dramatically during the coming years, the government assigned the Ministry of Justice and the other central ministries within the judicial system to develop the judicial systems ability to take part in international development co-operation. At the same time, a study was initiated to evaluate provisions of judges and prosecutors for international efforts etc. The evaluation, which made its report in January of 2002 (Ds 2002:1), suggests an increase in funding for the judiciary (including prosecution) corresponding to 15 full-time positions, creation of support functions within the National Courts Administration and the Office of the Prosecutor General, as well as the building of resource databases of appropriate employees within the respective departments. The evaluation stresses the importance of good working conditions for those who participate in international missions and suggests changes to the legislation. Co-operation between the judicial systems departments and representatives of the legal profession as well as other national players, e.g. within education, is also stresses as being of importance. Of Sida’s total contributions during the year 2000, approximately 2 billion crowns pertain to efforts that were directly connected to democracy and human rights. Development within the legal sector was included as an integrated aspect of these efforts, claiming 120 million crowns, the equivalent of about 5 % of the foreign aid within the area of democracy and human rights. Efforts within the legal sector are those that are meant to improve the development of the rule of law and where the recipient is an institution within the judicial system or the education system. Efforts are comprised of support for legislative work, ministries of justice, the police, prosecutors, courts, prisons, bar associations, law schools and ombudsman institutes, among other things. Efforts also include support for general improvement of the legal system and support to civil society to make demands on and lobby for legal reforms and improvements to access to the legal system. During the period of 1998-2000, Sidas contributions to the legal sector increased by more than 100 %. Swedish support to the legal sector includes a number of different types of efforts from legal aid via grassroots lawyers in South Africa and the building of basic court buildings and judges residences in Nicaragua, to development of administrational courts in Moçambique and aid to legislation within various areas of society in Vietnam. In South Africa, Central America, Palestine, and above all in Central and Eastern Europe, support has been focused on the building of police and prosecution departments, and the judiciary. Among those countries in the south that has received most support within the legal sector, are South Africa and Vietnam, as well as Laos and Tanzania. In countries like Rwanda and Burundi, efforts have been concentrated on war crimes and prisoners. Since 1989 the legal sector has been a prioritized area within the extensive collaboration with Central and Eastern Europe. During the first years of this collaboration, the efforts were focused on equipment deliveries to modernise the partner countries’ organisation, particularly within the police. Since 1997 the efforts have changed character and now are more focused on the transfer of skills and education. In June of 1998, the KUR committee presented an interim report (SOU 1998:86) in which it gave suggestions for how Swedish international legal co-operation should be intensifies in Central and Eastern Europe. In accordance with the report, legal assistance during the period of 1999-2001 has mainly focused on easing the candidate countries Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland’s entry as members of the EU and on increasing legal certainty and decreasing criminal activity in Sweden’s vicinity. The most active, and to date successful, co-operation can be found at the operative level, for example within the direct collaboration between prisons, court, the police and between prosecution authorities in Sweden and the Baltic countries. Departments that up until now have been involved in this co-operation are the National Police Board, the Office of the Prosecutor-General, the National Courts Administration, and the National Prisons and Probation Administration. Lately even the Council for the Prevention of Criminality and the Department of Economic Crimes have participated. In the government’s bill (prop.200/01:119), it is apparent that the main focus for Swedish development co-operation within the legal sector in Central and Eastern Europe, during the period of 2002-2003, is to aid EU-adaptation in the candidate countries as well as, with regards to Russia, the Ukraine and Byelorussia, to aid system shanges and integration into European systems of collaboration and to aid in relations with Sweden. In connection with candidate countries in Swedens vicinity achieving membership in the EU, co-operation with Russia and the Ukraine will be examined. Russia has expresses interest in initiating legal co-operation with Sweden and the National Prisons and Probation Administration has been participating in a Sida-financed development project with the Ukraine since November of 2001. Within the framework of Swedish legal co-operation in Central and Eastern Europe, resources are also going to be allocated to combating of international criminality such as trafficking in persons and organized criminality.