In 1978, the University started a brand new academic programme, The Language Consultancy Programme, with the aim of creating a whole new group of professionals. That is, professionals with a special expertise in the Swedish language that would make them perfectly suited to work with the modernisation of the language, not only in the Government Offices, but also in a number of authorities.

1993 is definitely a year to remember. It was the year when the Plain Swedish Group was set up. Between 1989 and 1992 plain language consultants worked in a plain language project at the National Institute for Staff Development. Their work resulted in the report It is definitely possible to alter the official language which contains an analysis of the official language and suggests methods for changing the writing habits of the authorities. The report paved the way for the plain language work among the authorities. In December 1993, the Swedish government appointed the Plain Swedish Group to promote clear language in official documents and to encourage government agencies all over Sweden to start plain language projects.

Systematic work at the highest level

If "Long history" is the first characteristic, "Systematic work at the highest level" is maybe the most important one.

As far as we know, few countries, if any, have so many language experts established inside the Government Offices and with such a strong mandate as we have. In the beginning, the attempts to modernize the language in the Government Offices were met with a great deal of scepticism. Since then, the acceptance has grown gradually. And the number of language experts in the Offices has grown from one to six.

So, how is our work organized today? What do we language experts actually do to ensure high quality in the documents produced?

The dominating part of our work is devoted to text revision of legal documents. Thus, it is no coincidence that we are stationed the Division for Legal and Linguistic Draft Revision at the Ministry of Justice. At the division we are five lawyers and five linguists working in close cooperation, each of us with a special responsibility for certain ministries.

First, it is necessary to say a few words about our position in the law-making process. The three most important types of documents produced in the Government Offices are government bills, government ordinances and committee terms of reference. All these documents are drafted by officials in the different ministries. And all of these documents have to be sent to our division. One copy to a lawyer, one copy to a language expert. None of these documents can be sent to the printers without our approval. This of course gives us a very strong position and ample opportunity to have real influence on the language used. Naturally, this position should not be misused. We should of course never slow down the law-making process for no good reason.