The Act on Imprisonment does not provide a legal basis for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to routinely conduct body searches of inmates to search for prohibited objects in the context of checks on their cells

Within the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, recurring so-called “protective searches” are conducted of inmates who are in their cells when these spaces are being checked for dangerous and prohibited objects. The purpose of the body searches is the same, i.e. to search for such objects.

In the decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman concludes that there is no legal basis in the Act on Imprisonment for routine body searches of inmates for the purposes of searching for prohibited objects in the context of regular checks of their cells. She calls on the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to review its guidelines and procedures in this area to ensure that they are in line with legislation.