On Tuesday, a unanimous Storting asked the government to change the ten-year statute of limitations in the Disputes Act. – We as a family have really come to know how difficult it has been over 25 years to get rid of a murder stamp. If one no longer has to double-check this ten-year deadline, then that is good. So says Jakob, father of Birgitte Tengs’ cousin. In 1998, the cousin was acquitted of the murder of Birgitte Tengs in the Gulating Court of Appeal. In the civil part of the case, he was nevertheless sentenced to pay NOK 100,000 in compensation to her parents. Since then, the cousin has tried to have this sentence reopened and overturned. He only succeeded in that in November last year – 25 years later. Then the cousin was finally washed clean. The Agder Court of Appeal avoided the Disputes Act by referring to violations of European human rights. – Norway profiles itself as the world’s foremost rule of law. The Disputes Act’s limitation of ten years does not harmonize with a rule of law. Therefore, it is time to lift the limitation period, says Jakob. Jakob and his family have long fought against the compensation claim his cousin received in 1998, after being acquitted. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news The murder of Birgitte Tengs Birgitte Tengs (17) was found murdered near her home on Karmøy on 6 May 1995. Two years later, Tengs’ then 19-year-old cousin was convicted of the murder of his cousin. The cousin appealed and was acquitted the following year in the Court of Appeal, but he was also sentenced to pay compensation to Tengs’ parents in a civil case, where other evidentiary requirements apply. The Agder Court of Appeal overturned the verdict in November 2022. The murder is still unsolved. In 2003, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg sentenced the Norwegian state to pay compensation to the cousin because the compensation judgment went too far in assuming that the cousin was guilty. In 2015, new interest was created in the case both through a book publication and through VG’s podcast “Unsolved”. In January 2016, the Birgitte Tengs case became the first case taken up by the new cold case unit in Kripos. On Wednesday 1 September 2021, the police arrested a man in his 50s from Karmøy who was charged with the murder. In February 2023, Johny Vassbakk (52) was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the murder. – Unique situation Rune Bård Hansen is a panel judge in the Agder Court of Appeal and a member of the Judges’ media group. He describes the problem as unique, but that it is not inconceivable that more similar situations could arise. – They now want to change the limitation rules in the Disputes Act to avoid a similar problem again. If you are convicted of murder and rape today, you are usually also sentenced to pay restitution to the survivors, he says and continues: – That compensation claim is a civil law claim that is included in the criminal case. Even if you are acquitted in the criminal case, the civil judgment may still stand. So even if the criminal case is reopened, the civil judgment can still stand. Team judge at the Agder Court of Appeal, Rune Bård Hansen. Photo: Anne Lognvik / news – If the police find another perpetrator many years later, as in the Tengs case, it is still not possible under current rules to reopen the civil case. This is almost an absurd situation. He explains that the law is not always able to take account of all possible situations, and that such cases are part of legal development. – This shows that even the imagination cannot invent everything that happens in life. From time to time, needs arise that you hadn’t thought of. Then you have to change the law, come up with new regulations or create a new law if necessary. This happens many times a year, says Hansen. It takes a year to change the law The Conservative Party’s justice policy spokesman Sveinung Stensland is behind the request proposal which was adopted by the Storting on Tuesday. For Stensland, this is about changing something that goes against people’s perception of what is right and wrong. – When you feel that something is completely unreasonable and goes against your own sense of justice, it is often like that, says Stensland. The right-wing justice policy spokesperson, Sveinung Stensland. Photo: Ingeborg Undheim / news Stensland is happy that the decision was unanimous. The government will now prepare a legal text that will go back to the Storting. – I expect this to be in place within a year, says Stensland. He hopes that change will help people who have been acquitted to get any compensation cases changed. – History shows that the legal system makes mistakes, the police make mistakes and that people are unjustly convicted. Then we must make sure that the Disputes Act is not another injustice that affects those who are innocently convicted, says Stensland. – Should have been discovered many years ago Lawyer Arvid Sjødin has for all these years represented the cousin of Birgitte Tengs and his family. They have repeatedly tried to have the compensation judgment annulled. Sjødin is happy about the change in the law that the Storting has requested, but believes it will come too late. – Today’s legislation is contrary to human rights conventions. This should have been discovered years ago. At least by the Supreme Court. From the Justice Committee’s decision:
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Amends the dispute act because of the cousin of Birgitte Tengs’ case – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
