In my earlier article Semantogymnastics about Microconsent I have evaluated an emerging trend in the jurisprudence of sexual consent. It appears that the first country to apply the associated principles to criminal law will be Sweden.
Sweden plans changing the law to require explicit consent before sexual contact (The Guardian) and at each step of sexual encounter (RT). I have contacted the Swedish Ministry of Justice for comment and have been advised by Kristoffer Strömgren that the wording of the draft legislation has now been amended by removing the 'explicit consent' requirement in favour of just 'consent'.
The Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven previously attempted to clarify the meaning of the proposed legislation by stating that you should not engage in sex unless you are sure that consent had been granted - "If you are unsure, then refrain!" (The Independent). This seemingly innocuous answer does not clarify the matter at all - it is now unclear what would constitute a reasonable ground of being sure that consent had been granted. It also implies a requirement of strict certainty rather than all-things-considered subjective judgement that would allow for the possibility of fair misunderstanding - on one view, we can never be sure about the state of mind of another.
Comment: The solution is obvious and simple: government-issued permits and contracts signed before, during, and after each and every sexual encounter, signed by witnesses. And to confirm repeated and continuous consent and rule out forgery or coercion to sign such documents, each sexual encounter must be videotaped and/or witnessed by a neutral third party (preferably government-approved). With such measures, Sweden will become a sexual utopia, free of sex of any kind.