- It is the biggest legal scandal we have experienced in modern times, says Sven-Erik Alhem who has lectured together with the brothers' mother on behalf of the Crime Victim Support.

If there are no formal reasons for granting damages, it should be done pro bono, ie for reasons of goodness, Alhem believes.

- I can only imagine that the state feels like me, that this is a terrible abuse of children, he says.

"Up to the state"

It is not possible to refer to the fact that the legislation has improved since the appointment of the two brothers was made, according to the former chief prosecutor.

- Even then, there were demands for human rights, demands for legal certainty.

What applied to adults can reasonably not have been kept out of the question of how to treat children, moreover small children.

Now it is up to the state to decide whether the boys deserve compensation for their suffering.

- The state always has the opportunity, even if there is no formal obligation to compensate them for the suffering they have caused, to intervene and say that it is terrible if it is the boys who are allowed to suffer without any form of compensation, says Alhem.

Small chance

But how it will be with that thing is impossible to predict, according to Sandra Friberg, associate professor at Uppsala University and expert in tort law.

The assessment is made entirely on the basis of the aspect of grace and there are no legal rules to start from.

- The decisions made by the government are never justified, neither when there is a rejection nor when compensation is given.

Thus, it is difficult to say exactly what it is that decides, she says.

Friberg emphasizes that there is a chance for the brothers, even if the probability is low.

One factor is that the state must take equal treatment into account.

- It should be something that makes this not a situation where there are lots of other people who have been treated worse.

Should receive compensation

Personally, she thinks it would be reasonable for the state to compensate the brothers.

If the brothers have their request rejected, they can take the case to the European Court of Justice and simply sue the state, says Friberg.

- Here one may ask whether these brothers have lost the right to a fair trial under the European Convention.