Nils Beckman

Nils Arvid Teodor Beckman (30 October 1902 – 22 January 1972) was a Swedish jurist and civil servant. He served as President of the Supreme Court of Sweden from 1963 to 1969.

Beckman's legislative work, both in the criminal law committee and in other committees, continued even after he became a member of the Supreme Court in 1947. However, for more than two decades, until his retirement in 1969, he devoted the majority of his efforts to judicial work at the highest level, serving as the President of the Supreme Court from 1963. His legal writings primarily focused on criminal law and family law. His contributions to the reform work that led to the new Penal Code made it natural for him to become the chief editor of the extensive and well-known commentary on the Penal Code, recognized by all Swedish jurists. Equally well-known and utilized were the case summaries in family law that he published in the Svensk Juristtidning ("Swedish Journal of Law") starting in 1937, with the last one just a few months before his death.

Early life Beckman was born on 30 October 1902 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of , Head of Division to the National [Swedish] Office for Administrative Rationalization and Economy (statskommissarie), and his wife Ruth Helena Fredrika Hammarstedt. He passed studentexamen in 1920 and received a Candidate of Law degree from Stockholm University College in 1923.

Career Beckman carried out court service in Sollentuna and Färentuna judicial districts (Sollentuna och Färentuna domsaga) before he entered the Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm, where he became an assessor in 1934. As a young Court of Appeal assessor, he was given the responsible task of, as specially appointed chairman of Västmanland Eastern Judicial District Assize Court (Västmanlands östra domsagas häradsrätt) lead the investigation in perhaps the most noted criminal case of the 1930s, the trial against the so-called Sala gang from 1936 to 1937.

Awards and decorations

Honours Honorary Doctor of Law, Stockholm University College (1953)

Selected bibliography