Drug Abusers and Abusers of 328. The aim of the new Care of Alcoholics, Volatile Solvent6 (Special Provisions) Act was to motivate the abuser to The 1988 Act had expanded the participate voluntarily in the treatment. provision of COmpulSOry care because investigations had revealed a sharp rise in drug and alcohol abuse among the SOdally disadvantaged and rising death6 among abusers. It clarified the responsibilities of social welfare committee6 and included care at a stage when symptom6 were less acute, so that an individual could be treated before his condition had deteriorated too far. could not be The time-limit for compulsory care, which was six months, exceeded, and compulsory care order6 were decided upon by the courts. The number of persons under compulsory care had risen from 350 in 1988 to 750 in 1989. Decision6 on admiSsiOn to compulsory care had risen from 15,000 to 16,000 and the average period of care had increased from 75 to 130 days, 329. The main aim of the new legislation on compulsory psychiatric care was to adapt the law to the evolution of psychiatry , which now favoured out-patient treatment and treatment at psychiatric Clinic6 in ordinary hospitals. Compulsory care would therefore be more strictly limited, in order to strengthen the patient's capacity for living independently and for volurltarily It also established legal time-limit6 for continuing treatment and support. period6 of psychiatric care and ensured greater judicial control by making court proceeding6 mandatory after an initial period of care. Uaht to a fair tria 330. With regard to that issue , member6 of the Committee Wished to receive information on the procedure and criteria for the selection of professional and lay judges who served in the general courts, a6 well a6 on their role in reaching decisions, and on the procedure for promoting judges. It was also asked what the number and proportion of women in the judiciary were: whether there were any restriction6 on the nationality of lawyers practising in Sweden; and whether an acquittal could be reversed after a new trial solely in order to prevent the credibility of the judicial system from being called into Clarification Wa6 also requested of the regulation6 governing the question. implementation of article 14, paragraph 3 (g), of the Covenant. 331. In his reply, the representative of the State party explained that being a professional judge entailed holding a state office. When persons were considered for that office, only such objective factor6 as merit and competence were considered. Permanent judge6 were appointed by the Government and had to be Swedish nationals and possess law degrees. There were a number of safeguard6 against the Government'6 misuse of its power to appoint judges. Lay judges were chosen by means of elections, and efforts were made to ensure that they were representative of the population with respect to age, sex and occupation. Every Swedish national who was not a minor or legally incompetent could be elected a6 a lay judge for the municipality or the county in which he or she lived. In reaching decisions, professional and lay judge6 each had one vote; the majority opinion prevailed. There were many women in the legal profession, and they accounted for IO per cent of all applicants for trainee posts in courts of appeal. All lawyers practising in Sweden had to be Swedish citizens, but a person appearing as counsel before a court did not have to be a member of the Swedish Bar Association except in criminal proceedings. --81-