Public Conduct — Sweden

Sweden has a single catch-all public-nuisance offence and it is deliberately broad: anyone who "makes a noise in a public place or otherwise behaves publicly in a way apt to cause offence to the public" commits forargelsevackande beteende - disorderly conduct - under Brottsbalken 16 kap. 16 §. There is no list of banned acts; the test is whether the behaviour is apt to cause public offence, which is what makes drunken rowdiness, public urination, shouting and aggressive street behaviour reachable under one provision. It is a public-place/public-facing offence, so it does not reach what you do privately. Note the separate trap next to it: raising a false alarm or misusing an emergency alarm so that police, fire, ambulance or sea rescue turn out needlessly is its own offence under 16 kap. 15 §, carrying up to a year, and up to six months for misuse of an alarm device.

Penningboter - a summary fine - and nothing else: 16 kap. 16 § prescribes penningboter alone, with no imprisonment available. Brottsbalken 25 kap. 3 § sets that band at a minimum of SEK 200 and a maximum of SEK 4,000 ("lagst tvahundra kronor och hogst fyratusen kronor"), unless a lower maximum is specially prescribed; where penningboter are imposed as a joint penalty for several offences the ceiling is SEK 10,000 (25 kap. 6 §). The false-alarm offence in 16 kap. 15 § is far heavier: a fine or up to one year, and up to six months for misuse of an alarm device.

Verified Oct 10, 2026