Sweden.
Swedish law places a duty on anyone who discovers a fire or an accident endangering life to warn those in danger and call for help if possible, and it lets the state compensate people who help in rescue services. The state also states a policy goal of improving conditions for civil society, offers a tax reduction for cash gifts to approved recipients, and relies on volunteer defense organizations and municipal volunteer groups in emergencies.
Is there a legal duty to help a stranger?
LimitedThe Act on Protection against Accidents (2003:778), chapter 2 section 1, says a person who discovers or learns of a fire or an accident that endangers someone's life or poses serious risk to health or the environment shall, if possible, warn those in danger and, when needed, call for help. In the Penal Code text reviewed, chapter 23 section 6 concerns failing to report or prevent crimes and only where the crime can be revealed or prevented without danger to anyone; no general criminal failure-to-rescue offense, and no penalty clause for the Act's duty, was located in the texts reviewed.
Are people who help protected?
LimitedChapter 24 section 4 of the Penal Code says an act committed in necessity (danger to life, health, property or another protected interest) is a crime only if it is unjustifiable given the danger and the harm caused. Under the Act on Protection against Accidents chapter 6 section 4, a person who takes part in rescue services, whether under a service duty or voluntarily with the rescue leader's consent, has a right to reasonable compensation for travel, board, work and lost time. No broad statute shielding good-faith helpers from civil liability was found in the texts reviewed.
How the government promotes giving and service
One thing worth knowing
Chapter 6 section 1 of the Act on Protection against Accidents makes everyone aged 18 to 65 liable to take part in rescue services on the rescue leader's request, as far as knowledge, health and strength allow, and says volunteers are to be called on first when a municipality picks people for its rescue home-guard.
What this does not mean
The statutes are quoted from Swedish originals on riksdagen.se and paraphrased in this guide; no official English text was consulted. A legal duty to warn or call for help is not the same as an enforced duty to rescue, and this guide does not say how courts apply it. The state agency formerly called MSB now appears under the name Myndigheten for civilt försvar, so older references may be outdated. This is a plain-language summary of public sources, not legal advice, and it does not rank countries. No government named here has endorsed this site.