In 2000, Viggo Kristiansen was sentenced to 21 years in custody, with a minimum term of 10 years, in the Baneheia case. He has always said that he was innocent. During these years, he has demanded to have his case taken up again five times in the Re-enrollment Commission, before he was finally granted in 2021. On Friday, Attorney General Jørn Sigurd Maurud said that he had no doubt that Kristiansen should be acquitted. It is formally the Borgarting Court of Appeal that must acquit Kristiansen, but the decision of the Attorney General is in practice a final decision. Wants to liquidate the commission The fact that Kristiansen had to go through so many rounds before he got the case to be re-examined shows that the Re-recording Commission is not working as it should, says his lawyer Arvid Sjødin to news. – I think the best thing would be to shut down the commission and go back to the court. With the court, you will be able to review what they have done afterwards, and you can appeal. You cannot appeal a decision from the commission. Before the Re-entry Commission was established, it was the court that had delivered a judgment that decided whether a case should be re-opened. Lawyer Arvid Sjødin will reverse the scheme for the resumption of criminal cases. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB One of the things Sjødin reacts to in Kristiansen’s case is that, according to VG, it was the same man who had written all the proposals for decisions in the Baneheia case. – Then it is mostly he who writes the recommendations that determine what the commission should do in relation to it. What was fortunate this time was that there were new members who chose to go their own way. Sjødin is supported by lawyer Frode Sulland, who believes that the decision to the Attorney General shows that the system we have today is not working as it should. – The readmission commission is lying with a broken back after massive criticism for many years. This should be the death knell for the commission we have today. Sulland defended Veronica Orderud in the Orderud case. They have made several attempts to have the case tried again without success. At the end of September, there was a new inspection at Orderud farm in connection with a new attempt to have the case tried. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Sulland believes both the composition and the way the commission works are wrong. He also reacts to the fact that it is not possible to review a decision in the commission. Therefore, he believes it is time to wind up the scheme as we know it today. – Now we have to start with blank slates, and establish a far more legally secure system for the trial of criminal cases where someone believes they have been convicted innocently. The re-admission commission Independent body that assesses and decides whether a criminal case that has been legally decided by the courts should be processed again by the court. Before the commission was established, it was the individual court that had delivered the judgment that decided whether a case should be reopened or not. The commission was established on 1 September 2003, as a result of the work of a committee set up by the government in 1995. They examined the work of the experts and the processes in the Liland case, where a man was wrongly convicted of double murder and served a longer sentence in prison . The readmission commission started work on 1 January 2004. The commission has five permanent members and three deputy members. The leader is appointed by the King in Council for a period of seven years. In 2021, the commission received 263 requests for reopening, which is the highest number since its inception. 223 of these were settled. The commission reopened 82 cases in 2021. 46 of these cases were linked to the Nav scandal. Sources: Store Norske Lexikon, the annual report of the Gjenooptakkingskommissionen and reoptakke.no. Announces investigation into the Baneheia case When asked by news whether Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) will take the initiative to look at the arrangement with the Re-enrollment Commission, the ministry refers to what Mehl said at a press conference on Friday afternoon. There she said that if the Court of Appeal comes up with an acquittal, this will be one of the biggest legal scandals in Norway in recent times. – The government believes that it is absolutely necessary to have an investigative committee that will go through all sides of the case, she said. Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) wants to look at all the actors in the Baneheia case, including the Reinstatement Commission. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news This also includes the Re-enrollment Commission, the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness informs news. Outgoing head of the Re-recording Commission, Siv Hallgren, tells news that it is natural that their work will now be scrutinized. – I will not assess the commission itself, but I think in the light of this case and the Attorney General’s clear statement today that it is natural to look at the treatment as a whole. This should also include the commission’s work. Outgoing head of the Re-recording Commission, Siv Hallgren, thinks it is good that the Baneheia case is thoroughly investigated. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB To Sjødin’s claim that it is the person who has written the recommendations that largely determines the outcome, she rejects this. – It is the commission that decides the cases, and that assesses both the case and the draft. This is quite common in administration. That you have someone who works things out and others who decide.
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Frode Sulland and Arvid Sjødin will abolish the Re-recording Commission – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
