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Gun Hellsvik | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Justice | |
| In office 4 October 1991 – 7 October 1994 | |
| Prime Minister | Carl Bildt |
| Preceded by | Laila Freivalds |
| Succeeded by | Laila Freivalds |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gun Birgitta Blomgren (1942-09-27)27 September 1942 Ängelholm,Sweden |
| Died | 14 November 2016(2016-11-14) (aged 74) |
| Political party | Moderate |
| Spouse | Per Hellsvik(m. 1966) |
Gun Birgitta Hellsvik (néeBlomgren; 27 September 1942 – 14 November 2016) was a Swedishpolitician for theModerate Party, who served asMinister for Justice from 1991-1994.
A lawyer by training, she worked as acivil law lecturer atLund University before becoming a full-time politician.
She served asMunicipal commissioner ofLund 1983-1991,Minister for Justice 1991-1994,member of theRiksdag, chairman of the Riksdag Committee on Justice 1994-2001,President of theNordic Council 1999,Director General of the Swedish Patent and Registration Office 2001-2007, and chairman of the board of theUniversity of Borås 2004-2007. Social DemocratLaila Freivalds was both her predecessor and successor to the office of Minister for Justice.
Hellsvik was known for her tough stance on drugs. She opposed dispensing clean needles to drug addicts, arguing that it would undermine people's confidence in the legal system. As Minister of Justice, she oversaw a legal change that made it a crime to be under the influence of an illicit drug, even in the absence of drug possession; she also authorised the police to forcibly obtain urine and blood samples from a suspected individual. She lauded the American war on drugs, claiming that "as so many times before, the United States, is showing us the right path". In a motion to parliament entitled "Strong measures against narcotics" (Krafttag mot narkotika;[1]) she supported lifetime imprisonment for narcotics crimes, allowing the police the take urine and blood samples from small children to promote early detection of drug abuse and to authorise the police to routinely induce vomiting in individuals suspected of having swallowed narcotics, among other things; the proposals were voted down by parliament.
Hellsvik died fromcancer on 14 November 2016, at the age of 74.[2]
| Preceded by | Minister for Justice 1991–1994 | Succeeded by |
Authority control databases: Artists |
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