I tend to periodically look up at the talking to show that I understand what they are saying and I think that what they say is relevant … but when a prosecutor or a defender starting to go into the siding, then I usually put down the pen and sit back and look the other way: ”this is not what I am most interested in, it can take a little short”. […] I do it not against a defendant or a witness, there is the risk that the type of signals could be misunderstood, but a defender and a prosecutor understand directly why I quit note.
Asger, fiscal, 40+

Read more: ”Lawyers trained in an environment where feelings are taboo,”

For me it was the A and O to be able to conduct the trial without a breakdown, with the feelings from the victim’s family, the victim’s father wanted to really be with about the trial and to hear, above all, how the defendant had discussed when he executed his daughter. [—] I had the father and the father’s relatives behind me and I felt that it was something terrible, they hated, really hated him, they had wanted to execute him. And where was it really to think, how to behave, the court took note of everything, and every wrong formulated question can have huge consequences, and emotional outbursts and so, it was extremely stressful.
Henrik, prosecutors, 50+

I had a plaintiff, it was a sexual offence, who sat and literally shook the […] and then it becomes a bit of an interaction between the lawyer and me, for at the same time, so it is important that it is målsägandebiträdet in the first instance, who will take care of his client, it is all about the independence of the court, that you do not end up in a situation where the accused knows that it was the worst of what they keep on with the injured party, it is probably already running.
Naomi, mr., 50+

the Prosecutor asked, of course, not the fundamental questions about the act… who did he deal with? It asked she never. But it would be understood. And it can’t be understood. The questions I got to go in and ask. And it is not good. It is not my role. But in this case I have to actually clarify it.
Monika, alderman, 45+

the Victim had called to the notary… and said that she was so happy, she was so nervous before the trial but she was so pleased, she thought I had treated both her and the defendant with such respect. Then I was really happy actually, really happy I was then … People come here once in life, she had never been in a courtroom, so it’s a huge thing, many are very nervous, and I think that we should think of me and my colleagues.
Christer, mr., 50+

I am proud to try to work for justice. For that, I think, is the difference between, therefore, the lawyer’s task, it is, of course, to protect the client. The task of the judge, it is, of course, that bevisvärdera, they value the evidence the parties put up. We are the only, I think, that can fight for justice, or for what is right, both that the defendant made it, or that he has done it. We must be objective and obtain everything. And that I think is very nice. A nice thought.
Agnes, åklagaraspirant, 30+

It was not offered, it was this barnpornografimålet that I had, it’s a long time ago now, but I will point of that judgment where the pictures popped up in my head for half a year afterwards, I felt horrible out there.
Kajsa, alderman, 40+

both To take distance from and reproduce teflonkulturen through to locate the emotional problem of the other: There is a macho image within the åklageriet which means you go through it unharmed, which is not really realistic. I have never been in the situation myself that I sat in my room and cried, I think I’m not the type of man, but of course I have been disappointed that I did not get support from my employers.
Göran, prosecutors, 35+

Source: Professional emotions in court – a Sociological perspective (Stina Bergman Blix and Åsa Wettergren).

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