The case in summary A co-judge in Vestfold, who was sentenced to 21 days of suspended prison and a fine of NOK 20,000 in 2021, has been re-elected as co-judge and representative in the conciliation council. The Courts Act is clear that you are excluded from being elected as a co-judge if you have been sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, and at the start of the election period it has been less than ten years since the sentence was legally binding. The co-judge did not inform the municipal council of the verdict, and the police, who carry out a character assessment of the people whom the politicians have chosen as co-judges, did not pick up on the verdict either. The police acknowledge that a human error has occurred, and it is possible that the error may also apply to other co-judges. Lawyer John Christian Elden believes that the police should have been able to reveal that the co-judge in question has been convicted, and that any sentence in which the co-judge had participated would have been overturned. The co-judge in question has not ruled in a criminal case after he received the suspended prison sentence. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content has been reviewed by news’s journalists before publication. In 2021, the man from Vestfold was sentenced to 21 days in prison and a fine of NOK 20,000. From the judgment from the Agder Court of Appeal, it appears that, as chairman of a company, he failed to ensure that a complete account was kept for the business. The man has been a co-judge since 2008. The politician works as a co-judge at the Vestfold District Court, which is located in Horten, among other places. Photo: Tom Erik Haugland / news At the latest for the period 2021–2024, he received renewed trust, then also as a proxy in the conciliation council. Recently, he was again appointed as co-judge for the period 2025–2028. In addition, the municipal council has elected him as a permanent representative in the conciliation council in the relevant Vestfold municipality. – Absolute grounds for exclusion The Judiciary Act is crystal clear that you are excluded from being elected as a co-judge if you have been sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, and at the start of the election period it has been less than ten years since the sentence became final. Law professor Jan Fridthjof Bernt at the University of Bergen. Photo: Åge Algerøy – This is then an absolute reason for exclusion. Anyone who enters under this cannot be elected or serve as a member of the conciliation council, says law professor Jan Fridthjof Bernt at the University of Bergen. He adds that the same rules apply to all fellow judges, both in the District Court and in the Court of Appeal. Did not inform the municipal council The co-judge tells news that he was not familiar with the criteria for being elected as a co-judge and representative to the conciliation council. – But were you asked about character and criminal history ahead of the municipal council’s election of representatives to the conciliation council? – No, and I did not inform the municipal council about the judgment either, he says. It is the local politicians who decide who will be co-judges. The municipality is responsible for ensuring that they meet the criteria in accordance with the Courts Act. Human failure In practice, it is the police who carry out a so-called character assessment of the people whom the politicians have chosen as co-judges. Alexander Gulliksen Johansen is section leader at the police’s unit for behavior control and police certificates. It is this unit that conducts the character assessment of the persons whom the municipal councils have elected as co-judges. Section leader Alexander Gulliksen Johansen acknowledges human failure in the police. Photo: Hans Philip Hofgaard / news Johansen acknowledges that a human failure has occurred. – Should a conditional prison sentence have been caught through such a behavior check? – That is correct, as a starting point, yes. If a suspended sentence is registered in the police registers when the conduct assessment is carried out, it will be subject to a manual assessment. May apply to several – How can it happen that a person who received a suspended prison sentence in 2021 is not revealed? – We have good processes and routines to prevent mistakes from happening, but mistakes can of course occur. Johansen is not aware of similar cases. However, he does not rule out that mistakes may have happened in the past. He explains that if such an error is discovered, the police have good systems to deal with them. – If, contrary to all presumptions, we find that an error has occurred, that error will be corrected immediately. – Now we have already uncovered one case. Does that mean that it can also apply to other co-judges? – Again, on a general basis, it is part of the treatment of deviations. In addition to simply correcting any deviation, we will also look at the risk or probability that a similar deviation may have occurred, or may occur in the future, says Johansen. What does the Conciliation Council do? The Conciliation Council is the lowest court for civil matters in Norway. It is both a mediation institution and a court. The Conciliation Council only deals with civil cases, not criminal cases. A civil case is a conflict between two or more parties about who has the law on their side. The conciliation council must make arrangements for the parties to resolve a dispute through mediation or judgment. A court hearing in the conciliation council is less formal and less comprehensive than a court hearing in the other courts. All municipalities must have a conciliation council. The conciliation council consists of three council members, one of whom is the chairman of the conciliation council. The council members are elected by the municipal council for four years at a time. The county governor supervises the conciliation councils. The police are the secretariat for the conciliation councils. Elden: – The police must be more careful John Christian Elden at Elden Advokatfirma is clear that the police have not done their job well enough. – Only the police have access to criminal records. Neither the municipalities nor the people have access to these registers, so the police must be more careful in carrying out a correct check. Lawyer John Christian Elden believes the police should be able to reveal that the co-judge in question has a criminal conviction. Photo: Marthe Synnøve Johannessen Elden cannot remember hearing of similar cases where convicted criminals have been appointed co-judges. He thinks it is strange that the error was not caught. – The lists of co-judges must be washed against the criminal record every time new elections are held and only the police have that option. The man has not been a co-judge since he was sentenced. According to Elden, the sentence should have been overturned in that case. Published 16.10.2024, at 06.33
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Elected convicted as co-judge – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
