After SVT's review: New authority will guarantee good men who work

- Thieves should not be good men, said Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson (S) five years ago.

By then, SVT had been able to show that 26 million had disappeared from accounts that good men and managers were put in charge of.

And both SVT's review and later the National Audit Office came to the conclusion that the control of good men works poorly.

Proposed changes to the law

The chief guardians who are to control the good men also did not see it as their task to report suspected crimes to the police.

Today, the Minister of Justice receives the Deputy Inquiry, which will present its proposals on how the system of good men should be better. 

Some of the proposed changes to the legislation are:

• Goodwill shall cease if the principal withdraws his consent.

• Obligation for the chief guardian to report to the prosecutor in case of suspicion of crime.

• Obligation for the chief guardian to review the annual report and final report, no later than within six months.

• The Board of Supervisors takes over the review of cases of good faith from the courts.

A new authority shall produce general advice and other material to support and offer a national compulsory education for good men and trustees. The authority shall keep a national register and be responsible for personal data and may issue regulations on accounting and guardianship.

But it should not control good men, it should continue to lie with the guardians, who are then in turn controlled by the County Administrative Boards.

What does it cost?

A new authority and a national deputy register are estimated to cost approximately SEK 22.5 million per year.

But good men should continue to be a non-profit activity for a long time - otherwise it would cost the Treasury around SEK 400 million, according to the investigation.

Most of the amendments to the law are proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2023.