The government sets the ground rules
The government determined the ground rules for the prize in a decree issued on December 12, 2002. The decree is included in the Swedish code of statutes (SFS) and called Decree (2002:1091) for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. It contains instructions regarding who can receive the award and which criteria the recipient must fulfill. The award sum is also given in the decree. In addition, it states that there must be a jury and an award office, and outlines their functions. The decree gives the Swedish Arts Council the right to make detailed decisions on how the award should be administered.

The Swedish Arts Council makes decisions regarding the jury, nominations and administration
Rules regarding the jury, nominations and administration of the award can be found in regulations from the Swedish Arts Council, included in the council’s code of statutes (KRFS). The relevant section is called Regulations (2003:1) on the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (later complemented with regulations 2003:5). In it, the Swedish Arts Council states how many members the jury should have, and the competence they require. The members’ mandate periods and the jury’s basic duties are specified. The regulations also contain some rules regarding the nomination process. The Swedish Arts Council has also developed conditions regarding the office’s responsibility for the award’s administration and finances.

The jury decides on the nominations and its own way of working
It is up to the jury to decide which bodies have the right to nominate, how many candidates they can suggest and in which categories each group may nominate. These rules can be found in the nomination letters sent by the jury to the nomination bodies before every round of nominations. The letters clearly state what information must be included with a nomination and the deadline for submissions.

The jury also decides how the internal jury work will be carried out, regulated by the jury guidelines.