Anyone who wants to renew their passport can today expect to get an appointment only after the summer, in the worst case at the end of the year.
The frustration has already led to about twenty JO reports against the police, as the authority according to the Public Administration Act is obliged to handle cases urgently.
The long waiting times could be contrary to the constitutionally protected freedom of movement.
According to the Form of Government, all Swedish citizens have the right to move freely in and out of Sweden.
- If in practice you can not leave the country because you do not have the opportunity to obtain a passport, then it is a restriction of the freedom to which you are entitled, says Tormod Otter Johansen, PhD in public law at the University of Gothenburg.
Hard to try
But that the long waiting times for a new passport would get a legal trial, Tormod Otter Johansen sees as remote.
- Potentially, you could sue the state if you have suffered damage, preferably some financial damage due to not being able to travel abroad.
Then you go via the compensation route, even if the threshold there is high, he says.
The police themselves have called the waiting times unacceptably long.
However, the authority flags that the situation will be strained for a long time.