The Swede of the Year for 2013 was recently announced by current affairs magazine Fokus. This year’s choice is Gunnar Strömmer, founder of The Centre for Justice and counsel at Gernandt & Danielsson.
Gunnar Strömmer was awarded the prize because of his role as a founder of Centrum för rättvisa – The Centre for Justice – the first Swedish public interest law organization ever. Since the start in 2002, the centre has litigated over 100 cases on behalf of individuals whose rights and freedoms have been violated, in most cases, by the state.
The jury for The Swede of the Year gave the following reasons for its choice:
“With the Centre for Justice, Gunnar Strömmer created a powerful protection for people who fall into dispute with the state, municipalitiesand authorities. With a consistent focus on the individual’s right, he has strengthened thelegal consciousness of the society as awhole”.
Since 2011, Gunnar Strömmer works as counsel at Gernandt & Danielsson. He is still a board member of The Centre for Justice.