Freedom of the Press Act

'The Freedom of the Press Act' is one of the four Fundamental Laws of the Realm (rikets grundlagar) and thus forms part of the Swedish Constitution. The Act regulates matters regarding freedom of press and principle of public access to official records. The Freedom of the Press Act as well as the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression is one of the two «basic media acts» in Sweden. The Freedom of the Press Act is derived from the Freedom of the Press Act of 1766; the legislation is regarded as the world's first law supporting the freedom of the press and freedom of information. In its first version, it brought freedom of the press in Sweden—then under the Holstein-Gottorp monarchy—to a level then only rivaled by the liberal Dutch republic and the United Kingdom of the Bill of Rights of 1689.