The Established Freedom of the Press Ordinance of His Majesty the King and the Estates of the Realm.

Dated Örebro, 16 July 1812.

We, CARL, by the Grace of God, King of Sweden, Goths, and Vandals, etc. etc. etc.

Inheritor of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, and Ditmarschen, Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, etc. etc. Be it known that since the Estates of the Realm, now assembled, have unanimously resolved to, in certain respects, amend the existing Freedom of the Press Ordinance of 9 March  1810, and this thus amended law has been submitted for Our Gracious approval. We, by virtue of the right granted to Us according to Section 85 of the Instrument of Government, have seen fit to adopt, approve, and confirm this Freedom of the Press Ordinance, consented to by the Estates of the Realm, in its entirety, word for word, as it follows below:

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We obligate all those on whom a lawful examination of offenses in public print may fall, to be the lawful defence and protection of the innocent. We have, in order to secure Freedom of the Press in a manner consistent with the demands of a Civil Society and the legitimate claims of every Citizen, desired to decree and ordain the following:

Section 1

1. All previously existing laws, provisions, and regulations concerning Freedom of the Press or Bookselling are hereby repealed, and as a consequence, all previous specific prohibitions on the publication of certain books, writings, and documents are also annulled; these may not be prosecuted except as prescribed by this Freedom of the Press Ordinance."

"The term 'writing,' as used in this Ordinance, shall mean everything that is presented to the public through print. By 'periodical writing,' it is meant something that is issued in numerical sequence or at specified intervals.

2. No prior examination of a writing before printing, or any prohibition against its printing, shall take place. No writing shall be required to be submitted to the printer, publisher, or author before its publication, nor shall any obstructive inspection over printing offices or authors and publishers be permitted; however, educational institutions shall retain their previous rights to review and approve such writings that are to be publicly defended in their lecture halls.

3. No privileges for the publication of writings, regardless of their form and nature, shall be required henceforth. Instead, the right to publish from the press shall be free for every author or publisher, without any exceptions, although others’ previously obtained exclusive rights shall remain intact. Such exclusive rights shall not be granted henceforth for a longer period than twenty years. For those already granted for an indefinite period, they shall only be valid for the lifetime of the recipient. Privileges for the publication of writings granted to support public institutions shall not be valid for a longer period than

twenty years from the date of this Law, but His Majesty the King retains the right to renew them for a maximum of twenty years each time.

4. Publishers of newspapers or periodical writings shall register themselves, along with the title and place of publication, with the Lord Chancellor, who has the authority to issue a certificate, provided that the applicant has not been convicted of a heinous crime or declared unfit to represent others in legal matters, confirming that no obstacle exists to the publication of the writing.

5. Privileges for printing offices shall not be required; everyone is free to establish printing offices of any kind or size they find suitable in a city or within a distance not exceeding half a mile from it, without being subject to any specific regulations, older privileges, or any printers' guild ordinances.

When a printing office is established outside the city in this manner, in all matters related to printing, the printer, workers in the printing office, and the authors and publishers of printed works shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the city.

If a new printing office is established, it is required that, at least thirty days before any publication is issued from it, the printer shall notify in writing both the Magistrate of the city where the printing office is established and the Royal Governor under whose jurisdiction or office the city falls, stating that he has established a printing office and where it is located. If anyone neglects to do so, they shall be fined one hundred Riksdaler, and their offense shall be announced in the newspapers. If, from a printing office not properly reported in the manner prescribed, any illegal publication is issued, the unlawful printer, along with the author, shall be subject to the same penalties and responsibility for the content and printing of the publication, and their printing office shall be forfeited to the prosecutor. Once the establishment of a printing office has been reported to the King's Governor, it is his duty to inform the Lord Chancellor immediately or at the latest with the next post.

6. Authors are not obliged to have their names printed on their published works. Whether they wish to remain anonymous or not, it is their duty to provide the printer with a sealed note containing their name and place of residence, along with a certification of the accuracy of this information. This certification must be signed by two well-known Swedish citizens residing within Sweden. These individuals shall be held responsible if the author's name and place of residence are found to be incorrectly stated, missing from the note, or if the author, without due cause, fails to respond to the legal proceedings within the stipulated time, should the publication be subject to prosecution. If a printer reveals an author's name and place of residence without being legally ordered to do so by the judge, they shall be fined two hundred Riksdaler, and their offense shall be announced in the newspapers.

7. The one who publishes a foreigner's work or a translation thereof, or the work of a domestic author who has not provided their name, shall have the same rights, obligations, and responsibilities as an author, in all cases where this Law does not stipulate otherwise. Publishers of newspapers and periodical publications shall always, with regard to their responsibilities, be considered as authors, and it is their duty, under equal liability, to ensure that the conditions further stipulated in this Law for their publication are strictly observed.

8. At the commencement of the trial, the printer is obligated to submit the author's sealed statement to the Court. Otherwise, he shall be held liable alongside the author, unless the author voluntarily discloses himself to the Judge. In cases concerning newspapers or periodical publications, the name of the publisher is provided by the Lord Chancellor, in accordance with the aforementioned notification. The Judge may immediately, upon the submission of the name statement, open it and thereby reveal the true party to the Court.

If, at the conclusion of the trial, the Judge determines that the prosecutor has initiated the proceedings in an unnecessary case, resulting in the breaking of the name statement, the prosecutor shall be liable to a fine of One Hundred Riksdalers.

If a Printer, without the Author's or Publisher's knowledge, has affixed their name to a publication, they shall be punished in accordance with Chapter 8, Section 3 of the Criminal Code.

9. Every publication is the property of the author or their legally authorized possessor. Anyone who prints or reprints a publication

without the written consent of the author or publisher shall forfeit the entire edition or pay its full value to the owner.

The same law applies if someone prints or reprints the translation of a foreign work that another person has produced, or allows their translation to be considered as someone else's. However, the translator's ownership rights to their work shall not prevent anyone else from publishing another translation of the same work.

The publisher of newspapers and periodical writings has not violated the author's ownership rights if they publish anonymous writings in them. Anyone who fraudulently puts a misleading title page or an incorrect author's or publisher's name on a publication shall be punished according to Chapter 8 of the Criminal Code. A fictitious name that does not refer to any real person shall not be prohibited from being placed on the title page when the author's true name has been submitted.

10. On every publication, the printer's name, place of printing, and the year shall be stated. If a printer neglects to do so, he shall be fined three hundred Riksdalers for the first offense, six hundred Riksdalers for the second offense, and, if it happens for the third time, he shall forfeit his printing establishment. If anyone falsely puts a printer's name or incorrect place of printing on a printed publication, he shall also be subject to the provisions of Chapter 8, Section 3, of the Criminal Code. However, the requirement for stating the printer's name, place of printing, and the year does not apply to notifications, letters of condolence, forms, conditional notes, and similar documents.

11. From everything that is printed, the printer shall be obligated to remove and deliver, free of charge, as many copies as the Lord Chancellor, the universities under the jurisdiction of the kingdom, the Royal Library, the National Archives, and the Royal Swedish Academy each receive. If a work is accompanied by expensive plates, such plates must be provided only to the Royal Library unconditionally.

12. No obstacle shall be placed in the way of engaging in bookselling or the sale of any publication, whether domestic or foreign. Every author or publisher shall be free to sell any work belonging to them, whether directly or through others. However, anyone wishing to engage in bookselling or sell books, either through an open shop or otherwise, with the right to announce it in public newspapers, shall be required, as provided for in the regulation on the establishment of printing houses, to make a declaration to that effect to the Lord Chancellor, with the same liability. For the continued sale of a publication, there shall be no other obstacles than those specified in Section 4 of this Act.

Section 2.

1. In accordance with the foundations laid down above for general and lawful freedom of the press, in accordance with the reservations laid down in Section 3 below, every author shall be free to publish his thoughts on everything that is or can become the subject of human knowledge through the press.

2. For every subject, the choice of writing shall be at the discretion of each author, subject to the responsibility set out below if it is characterized as scandalous or defamatory.

3. In accordance with what is provided in Sections 1, 3, 4, and 9 of Article 1, every author or publisher shall be permitted, subject only to the condition of the sanctity of others' property rights, to disseminate writings of any form, width, or nature whatsoever.

4. Based on what is provided in paragraph 1 of this section, it shall also be expressly permitted, subject to the exceptions and conditions set forth below, in order to further ensure the publisher's compliance, for anyone to publish in general print all legal proceedings and other public matters concerning documents, protocols, and decisions, of whatever name and nature they may be, whether they pertain to the past or to cases that may arise in the future. This applies regardless of the nature of the cases, whether civil, criminal, economic, military, or ecclesiastical, and whether they are before the Supreme Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, the Lower Judicial Review Board, the Public Administration Board, the Higher and Lower Courts, colleges, committees, boards, directorates, commissions, execution courts, or other public works, without discrimination.

Furthermore, this permission extends to all previous, current, or future instructions, constitutions, regulations,

statutes, ordinances, privileges, edicts, and general provisions, regardless of their origin. It also includes all the higher and lower courts, colleges, government offices, public corporations, and all officers' and officials' correspondence, memorials, and official letters.

Finally, it applies to all societies' and organizations' memorials, applications, proposals, reports, complaints, as well as their responses and resolutions. In this regard, not only should all such documents be immediately and without delay handed over to anyone who requests them, whether or not they have any interest in the matter, with the same liability for neglecting the service. If any public servant refuses or unduly delays such documents, but also, under the same liability, everyone should be given free access to all archives to copy documents on-site or allow them to be copied. If significant obstacles are encountered in this process, certified copies should be provided upon reasonable payment, or they should be obtained with proper compensation, for documents of any subject matter.

The following exceptions shall be strictly observed in accordance with the previous permission:

That protocols held by the King in ministerial matters and command cases, or the State Council's protocols and documents, or those of the Estates, or the Secret Committee, or the Constitutional Committee concerning the State Council, or the Bank and National Debt Works, or the Bank and State Committees, or Auditors concerning the Bank and National Debt Works, regarding the secret matters of the same Works, cannot be demanded for printing or obtained without the consent of the concerned parties. If such documents are published without the consent of the parties involved, the publisher shall be punished according to general law and specific regulations if he has been entrusted with their custody and obligated to keep them secret. If someone else does this, he shall be fined One Hundred Riksdalers or more depending on the nature of the offense. The same punishment shall apply to anyone who unlawfully publishes the aforementioned documents through the press, in cases where the custody of them has been entrusted to him but he has not been previously prohibited from revealing them under a higher penalty.

That no ministerial documents or private notes or reports of diplomatic persons on ministerial matters pertaining to a later period than at least fifty years ago, may be disseminated without the Government's consent, nor private letters unless they are necessary for a legal case, nor deposits of writings and documents entrusted to public care without the consent of those to whom the said letters or deposits concern or belong, may be published or obtained. Anyone who violates this shall be fined fifty Riksdalers.

In any legal case whatsoever, a party shall be allowed to publish, at their own discretion, before a judgment or verdict has been reached, their pleadings, complaints, and accusations through print. However, such a party is also obliged to allow the opposing party to make public, through print, their response, as well as the court's opinion thereon and the separate votes of the members of the court, so that everything concerning a complete elucidation of the case itself, its handling, and the grounds for the verdict may come to the knowledge of the public. Nevertheless, no one shall be considered obligated to release other documents than those absolutely indispensable for this purpose, and the assessment thereof shall rest with the judge before whom the case was pending, under legal liability if it is handled otherwise than in accordance with the clear intent and provisions of this Law. Anyone who violates this shall be fined fifty Riksdalers.

It shall also be free for anyone who has a case or any other matter concerning their rights pending, whether before His Majesty in His Highest Court or any other court or public institution, to have information about it printed or to obtain a species facti, provided that they adhere to truth and decency. Anyone who violates this shall be fined thirty-three Riksdalers and sixteen Skillingar.

That protocols and documents in settled criminal cases may not be published without the mutual consent of the parties, or, if the parties are deceased, not until 50 years after their death. Anyone who violates this shall be fined thirty-three Riksdalers and sixteen Skillingar.