564. All children domiciled in Sweden have to attend school, starting in the autumn term of the calendar year when a child is seven years old. The school starting age has been flexible since 1991, and a child can start school at the age of six if the custodian so requests and the municipality is able to provide a place. As of the 1997/98 school year, the municipalities must provide places for all children wishing to start school at the age of six. In the 1996/97 school year, 7.5 per cent of children starting school were aged six or under.

565. Compulsory schooling lasts for 9 years (10 years for special school pupils). It is normally completed in compulsory school, but can also be completed in an approved independent school, Saami school, special school or compulsory school for the intellectually handicapped. School ceases to be compulsory at the end of the spring term of the calendar year in which the child is 16 years old (17 years old for special school pupils). A pupil attending compulsory or special school who has not satisfactorily completed the final grade when the period of compulsory schooling ends but is judged capable of completing the education, shall be given the opportunity of doing so for up to two years after the end of the compulsory school period.

185. Children may not enter into contracts for employment or other work without the guardian's consent. The child may personally cancel the agreement and, if the child is aged 16 or over, enter into an agreement concerning work of a similar nature without obtaining renewed consent. Special rules exist for the protection of minors at work. […]

744. Concerning paragraph 2 (a), reference is made to the main rule of the Work Environment Act, which lays down that a minor may not be used for work before the calendar year in which he is 16 years of age or before he (or she) has completed his compulsory schooling. Before this, however, a minor may be employed on light work which cannot have a detrimental effect on his health, development or schooling. The Work Environment Act also contains a provision making 13 the minimum age for light work. The provisions of the Act also apply to minors engaged for work without being employees. Special provisions concerning minors were issued by the National Board of Occupational Safety and Health in 1996.

207. A person under the age of 18 may not marry without special permission. If the right of entering into matrimony is to be examined in accordance with foreign law, then, under the Act on Certain International Legal Relations Concerning Marriage and Guardianship, the rule is that permission from the county administrative board is required for a person aged under 15. Proposals put forward in 1987 provide for this rule to be amended in such a way that Swedish law will always apply to the examination of impediments to marriage. If so, permission will be required for all persons under the age of 18. This proposal is currently being studied at the Ministry of Justice.

188. Children committing crimes before they are 15 years old may not be sentenced under the Penal Code. The municipal social welfare committee, however, must always be informed if children under 15 commit crimes or are questioned in connection with crimes. In certain cases, a criminal investigation may be started in spite of the person who committed the crime being under the age of 15. An investigation of this kind may be inaugurated if it will presumably have a bearing on deciding the need for social service measures relating to the child, if it is necessary in order to clarify whether a person aged 15 or over was implicated in the crime, if it is necessary in order to search for property obtained through the crime or if it is otherwise of particular importance that an investigation be conducted. If the child is aged under 12, an investigation may be started only if there are exceptional reasons for doing so.