Sweden · Public access to official documents

Sweden's constitutional right of public access — immediate, anonymous, since 1766

AccessPoint manages public-access requests under the Freedom of the Press Act (Tryckfrihetsförordningen, ch. 2) and the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (OSL, 2009:400) — documents released immediately or as soon as possible, requesters anonymous, secrecy only under a harm test — pre-configured for Sweden and running inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

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Sweden at a glance

Response standard
Immediately or as soon as possible — an official document is released on request without undue delay (Freedom of the Press Act, ch. 2)
Anonymous requests
No name, no reason — a requester may stay anonymous and need not explain why (ch. 2)
Secrecy framework
The secrecy grounds in the OSL (2009:400), each applied under a harm test
Charges
On-site inspection is free; copies of official documents may carry a statutory fee under the fees ordinance
Oversight
Administrative courts (kammarrätt), with the Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO) and Chancellor of Justice
Languages
Swedish and English

Built for Sweden

One platform for the whole access-and-privacy mandate, pre-configured for this regime and running in your own Microsoft 365 tenant.

Public-access request lifecycle

Intake to release under the Freedom of the Press Act (ch. 2) — immediate production, no name and no reason required, and a full audit trail — all on Microsoft 365.

The constitutional right of access

Offentlighetsprincipen makes every official document public by default. AccessPoint logs, routes, and answers each request while preserving the requester's right to give neither a name nor a reason.

Immediately or as soon as possible

The Freedom of the Press Act requires an official document to be handed over immediately, or as soon as possible on request. AccessPoint tracks each request against that promptness standard and flags any that stalls.

Secrecy under the OSL harm test

Withhold only on a ground in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400), and only where the assumed harm from disclosure meets the statutory threshold — line by line, on a colour-coded, audit-trailed redaction record.

Free to inspect, fees for copies

Inspecting an official document on site is free; copies may carry a statutory fee under the fees ordinance. AccessPoint computes the charge and issues the estimate before copies are produced.

In your own tenant

Every request and record stays inside your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant — no third-party cloud, no cross-border transfers, and no per-user fees.

The principle of public access

In Sweden, access to official documents is a constitutional right — immediate, anonymous, and older than any FOI law.

Sweden's offentlighetsprincipen has stood since 1766, written into the Freedom of the Press Act — one of the country's fundamental laws. Every official document is public the moment it is drawn up or received, and anyone may ask to see it: immediately or as soon as possible, without giving a name or a reason. An authority may withhold a document only on a ground set out in the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, and only where the harm the secrecy protects against can actually be assumed. AccessPoint runs every request to that constitutional standard.

Immediate access An official document is handed over immediately or as soon as possible.
No name, no reason Requesters may stay anonymous and need not explain why.
Harm-test secrecy Withheld only on an OSL ground where the assumed harm holds.

Configured out of the box

Installing the se-foi configuration pack seeds your tenant with everything this regime needs — a starting point you can adjust, not a lock-in.

Related guide: FOI Workflow Quick Check
  • The Freedom of the Press Act (Tryckfrihetsförordningen, ch. 2) as the constitutional legal-authority and citation spine
  • The Swedish public-holiday calendar and the immediately / as-soon-as-possible promptness rules for due-date tracking
  • The Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (OSL, 2009:400) secrecy grounds, colour-coded for redaction, each with its harm test
  • Anonymous-request handling — intake that requires neither a name nor a stated reason
  • Statutory copy-fee rules, with free on-site inspection and an itemized estimate for copies
  • The appeal workflow to the administrative court of appeal (kammarrätt) and onward to the Supreme Administrative Court
  • Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO) and Chancellor of Justice (JK) oversight references
  • Public-access correspondence templates in Swedish and English with statutory wording

Sweden Questions

How quickly must a Swedish authority respond to a request?
An official document must be made available immediately or as soon as possible on request; there is no fixed number of days, but any delay must be justified by the work of retrieving and reviewing the document. AccessPoint tracks each request against that promptness standard and flags any that stalls.

What makes Sweden different — the constitutional right of access?
Yes. Access is a constitutional right under the Freedom of the Press Act, in force since 1766: every official document is public by default, requesters may stay anonymous and need give no reason, and a document may be withheld only on a ground in the OSL (2009:400) where the assumed harm can be shown. AccessPoint runs each request to that standard.

What can an authority charge?
Inspecting an official document on site is free. For copies, an authority may charge a fee set by the fees ordinance. AccessPoint computes the charge and issues the estimate before copies are produced.

Where does data reside?
Entirely within your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant. Requests, documents, and audit history never leave your control — no third-party cloud, no vendor access, and no cross-border data transfers.

Run Sweden's Public Access to Documents in One Platform

Try AccessPoint free for 30 days, pre-configured for Sweden. No credit card required.

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