An annual criminology symposium and prestigious award ceremony

The prize would reward successful contributions to criminological research, or the application of such criminological research findings in crime policy operations, while promoting human rights. Backing the academics was Mr. Jerry Lee, of Philadelphia, USA, a philanthropist who wished to partly fund the prize.

The proposal finally landed on the desk of secretary of state Dan Eliasson, who took a shine to it and promptly took charge, probably against many of the usual instincts and order of politics. Monika Olsson, who was responsible for the subject area at the Ministry of Justice, did a lot of the work, and one floor up, chief justice Annika Brickman, was involved from the start. From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Erik Wennerström, later head of the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), was involved, and he brought in Ambassador Krister Kumlin, who in turn contacted the director of the Torsten Söderberg Foundation and the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation, Edvard Söderberg, for advice on establishing such a prize.

Research symposium and criminology prize

In the kitty for an agreement between private funders and the Swedish state was that the prize would be located in Stockholm, awarded in the City Hall, preferably by royaltyies, and that the Swedish State would cover the award ceremony and all related costs, including organising a major multi-day symposium where researchers could meet while also networking with decision-makers and practitioners. The whole endeavour was realised by forming an association for the prize, with participants from the Ministry, the American stakeholders, Brå and Vice-Chancellor Kåre Bremer on behalf of Stockholm University. The first president of the association was Annika Brickman.

An international jury was also set up to award the prize, chaired by Lawrence Sherman and Jerzy Sarnecki, and in 2005 a Government order was issued to Brå to organise the award ceremony and the associated three-day research symposium starting in 2006. The prize money was funded in the early years by annual donations, mainly from the Jerry Lee Foundation and from the Torsten Söderberg Foundation and the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation, as well as from Japanese donors such as the Hitachi Mirai Foundation.

Reaching out for participants from all over the world

Since then, Brå has organised the award ceremony and the three-day symposium 19 times including 2025 (in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the whole event was cancelled in a hurry). Careful work is needed to ensure a brilliant award ceremony, and in this Brå works closely with Stockholm University. The symposium is also a real challenge. At least 400 participants from all over the world are expected. Premises must be organised, and many practical issues, both big and small, must be identified and resolved. All of this is handled by Brå's Communications Unit.

Each year, the symposium's themes and theme descriptions are formulated and the programme is put together. The programme usually includes some 55 seminars, with approximately 200 presenters. Speakers are offered no remuneration apart from a stage to make their presentations. These presentations then become the seminars that form the bulk of the symposium’s content. In addition, we have the advantage of having prizewinners on site, who volunteer to give their lectures in plenary. The symposium traditionally kicks off with a specially organised plenary session, where the Minister for Justice asks questions, and receives advice from the prizewinners and specially invited researchers.

Challenges have always included, firstly, attracting enough participants from countries other than Sweden, secondly, attracting participants from non-Anglophone countries, and thirdly, attracting participants from developing countries in particular. We have often succeeded, although in practice it is difficult for researchers and policy-makers from poorer parts of the world to travel to Stockholm without funding.

The Minister of Justice participates and the Queen often serves as a prize-giver

Over the years, the Stockholm Prize in Criminology and the Stockholm Criminology Symposium have drawn numerous researchers to Stockholm each June, and the event is now a large, well-known and established happening in the world of criminology. The Minister for Justice often participates in the symposium and at the ceremony at the Stockholm City Hall, and Her Majesty Queen Silvia has for many years contributed her brilliance by serving as prize-giver. Thus, Sweden is granted direct access to the latest works of criminological research, and criminology and the pursuit of knowledge-based, humane crime policy get a boost from the prize as well as the symposium.

After the early years of the prize association and annual funding by diverse organisations, these were replaced in 2012 by a more stable solution, with a newly formed foundation, established by the Swedish state and the Torsten Söderberg Foundation, and a board where Brå and Stockholm University are also represented. The start-up capital was generously provided by the State and an even larger sum by the Torsten Söderberg Foundation, whose chair, Maria Söderberg, has long been a driving force in the co-operation on the prize and the symposium, in addition to some financial contributions from Japanese donors. The chairpersons of the Foundation Board are drawn from the circle of prominent criminal lawyers in Sweden, and for several years this position has been held by Anne Ramberg.

The prize now has a solid foundation, and Brå continues to be responsible for organising the annual events.