The Swedish government is proposing amendments to the Military Police Ordinance to clarify the tasks of the military police. The proposal includes, among other things, that the military police shall explicitly receive statutory authority to investigate crimes within the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) and to conduct personal protection of the Swedish Armed Forces' own personnel and foreign military personnel present in Sweden within the framework of the Swedish Armed Forces' activities.
According to a memorandum from the Ministry of Defence, it is also proposed that the military police's crime prevention and supervisory tasks be modernised in terms of language, and that it be clarified that the military police is responsible for order and security also during activities that the Swedish Armed Forces conduct together with foreign military forces.
The background is a decision by the Parliamentary Ombudsman (Justitieombudsmannen, JO) in 2024. According to the memorandum, the JO assessed that the necessary statutory authority was lacking for the military police to conduct criminal investigations or carry out investigative measures within the framework of a preliminary investigation, despite this having long been established practice within the Swedish Armed Forces. Following the JO's decision, the previous agreement between the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Police Authority (Polismyndigheten) and the Swedish Prosecution Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten) on the military police's participation in criminal investigations ceased to be applied.
In the memorandum, the government states that the intention is not to grant the military police new tasks, but to clarify and provide explicit legal authority for activities that have already been conducted. With the proposed regulation, the military police will once again be able to assist in preliminary investigations and carry out investigative measures within the Swedish Armed Forces.
The proposal also means that the military police's personal protection mandate will be explicitly written into the ordinance. Currently, the military police is responsible, among other things, for the personal protection of the Swedish Armed Forces' leadership and, where necessary, foreign military personnel in connection with the Swedish Armed Forces' activities, but the government considers that this too requires clearer statutory authority.
The amendments are proposed to enter into force on 1 December 2026.