The government presented proposals for several major changes to Sweden’s constitution on Thursday. The changes affect citizenship, the fight against organized crime, and the introduction of new constitutional protection for abortion.

A central part of the proposal is to make it possible to revoke Swedish citizenship for individuals with dual citizenship obtained through false information, undue influence, or in violation of existing rules. The government also opens up for revocation for actions deemed to seriously harm Sweden. These changes are to be constitutionally enshrined to create a clearer legal framework than the current arrangement.

The government also wants to introduce an explicit possibility to criminalize participation in criminal organizations. This was proposed by the Sweden Democrats in 2014 in a motion called DIKO legislation (Participation in Criminal Organizations). At that time, all other parties were against such legislation.

Exceptions in Freedom of Association

Criminalization will occur through a targeted exception from the constitutionally established freedom of association, allowing the ordinary law to prohibit membership, recruitment, and other forms of participation in organized crime. This is a change that would, in practice, give the parliament the ability to introduce the same type of legislation against gang crime as already exists for terrorist organizations.

A third major part of the package is the inclusion of the right to abortion in the constitution. The government describes this as a statement that the right to abortion is a fundamental freedom and right. At the same time, it is noted that details and limitations will continue to be regulated by ordinary law, which means that a certain legislative margin will still exist in the future.

The process for constitutional amendments requires the proposals to be adopted by the parliament twice with an election in between. The government claims it wants to pass the package early in 2027, which means the first decision must be made before the 2026 election. If the parliament approves the changes on both occasions, the new order will come into effect after the second decision.