Sven Einar Romanus (19 January 1906 – 30 April 2005) was a Swedish civil servant. He served as President of the

Supreme Court of Sweden The Supreme Court of Sweden ( sv, Högsta domstolen, abbreviated ''HD'') is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal mu ...

from 1969 to 1973, as

Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

from 1976 to 1979 and as Acting

Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden The deputy prime minister of Sweden ( sv, Ställföreträdande statsminister) is the deputy head of government of Sweden. The incumbent deputy prime minister is Ebba Busch. The Swedish constitution allows the prime minister to appoint one of th ...

from 1978 to 1979.

Early life

Romanus was born on 19 January 1906 in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 65,856 inhabitants in 2020 with 95,167 inhabitants ...

, Sweden, the son of lector Anton Romanus and his wife Reidunn (née Lindboe). He was uncle of Gabriel Romanus. Romanus passed '' studentexamen'' in Östersund in 1924. Romanus received a Candidate of Law degree in Stockholm in 1929.

Career

Romanus worked as a law clerk in the Svea Court of Appeal in 1929, became an

assessor An assessor may be: * ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes * Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate * Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford * Assessor (property), an expert who calculates the value of pr ...

in 1939, and was director in the Ministry of Justice from 1944 to 1947. Romanus was appointed ''

Hovrättsråd A ''hovrättsråd'' (Swedish) or ''hovioikeudenneuvos'' (Finnish) is a judge of the Swedish or Finnish Court of Appeal (''hovrätt The courts of appeal in Sweden and in Finland'','' also known as Hovrätt ( fi, 'Hovioikeus', Swedish: Hovrätt ...

'' in 1946 and was a member of the Swedish state legislative committee (''Lagberedningen'') from 1947 to 1950. He served as a Justice of the

from 1951 to 1973, as department chairman in the Supreme Court in 1966, and as President of the Supreme Court of Sweden from 1969 to 1973. Romanus was

from 1976 to 1979. Romanus was also a member, secretary, chairman etc of different committees, commissions, investigations, and councils. He was notary and secretary in various

Parliamentary committees in the Riksdag There are fifteen parliamentary committees in the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament. Each committee is made up of seventeen elected MPs, with at least one member from each political party. Additionally, the committee on EU Affairs, while not one of th ...

from 1936 to 1942, a substitute in the Labour Court (''Arbetsdomstolen'') in 1941 and vice chairman from 1949 to 1950. Romanus was assigned to the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs and in Ministry of Justice from 1941 to 1943, was secretary of the ''1941 års befolkningsutredning'' ("1941 Population Survey") from 1941 to 1944, the Parliamentary Investigation Commission (''Parlamentariska undersökningskommissionen'') from 1945 to 1947, and served as Deputy Justice Ombudsman from 1948 to 1949. Furthermore, Romanus was vice chairman of the

Swedish Press Council The Swedish Press Council (Swedish: ''Pressens Opinionsnämnd'', PON) is a body governed by the Swedish print media tasked with determining whether the actions of a newspaper is in line with good journalistic practice. Complaints regarding the pract ...

from 1956 to 1959, chairman there from 1960 to 1976, chairman of the Swedish Youth Correctional Board (''Ungdomsfängelsenämnden'') from 1958 to 1969, of the Council on Legislation from 1962 to 1964, of the ''Kommittén för lagstiftning om yttrande- och tryckfrihet'' ("Committee on Legislation on Freedom of Expression and Press") from 1965 to 1972, if the ''Massmedieutredningen'' ("Mass Media Investigation") from 1970 to 1976, of the ''Programrådet för radioaktivt avfall'' ("Radioactive Waste Program Council") from 1980 to 1981, and of the ''Nämnden för hantering av använt kärnbränsle'' ("Committee for the Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel") from 1981 to 1984.

Personal life

In 1932 he married Alfhild Sandfærhus (1909–1996), the daughter of Hans Sandfærhus and Kari (née Hegstad). They had three children: Barbro (born 1934), Kurt (born 1937) and Gunilla (born 1943).

Awards and decorations

Order_of_the_Polar_Star_-_Ribbon_bar,_pre_1975

Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star (6 June 1961) * Noribbon

Seraphim Medal (1980)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanus, Sven 1906 births 2005 deaths Swedish Ministers for Justice Presidents of the Supreme Court of Sweden People from Karlstad Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star 20th-century Swedish judges