– I actually don’t think I have been involved in such a special situation before, says police attorney Jørn Johannessen Lyche. In November last year, a businessman from Østfold was sentenced to three years in prison for serious economic crime. The district court believed the man had lost his own company for several million kroner. In addition, he is said to have failed to pay close to NOK 3 million in taxes and duties. This week, the case took an abrupt turn. Borgarting Court of Appeal annuls the judgment of the district court. This means that the case must now be dealt with again in the district court. – For the person convicted in the district court, it means that he will most likely get a large penalty discount if he is sentenced in a new trial in the district court, says Lyche. The businessman was sentenced for this in the district court In November last year, the businessman from Østfold was sentenced to three years in prison for gross adultery. He was convicted of: 6 cases of gross financial fraud 16 cases of gross tax and duty evasion Several breaches of accounting rules 2 minor fraud He was also sentenced to pay one million kroner in compensation, and in addition a fine of kroner 285,000 to the Tax Agency. In addition, the district court decided that NOK 2.3 million in assets should be confiscated from the man. His wife was also sentenced to confiscation of assets worth NOK 2.5 million. This judgment is now annulled. Did not inform about conflict The Court of Appeal believes that one of the co-judges who heard the case in the district court was incompetent. The reason is that the co-judge never informed the district court of a previous conflict with the Tax Agency. – He also neglected to mention that he was no longer a state-authorised auditor, even though he was encouraged to do so, says the judgment from the Court of Appeal. – If I hadn’t felt capable, I wouldn’t have taken on the assignment, says the co-judge to news. He does not wish to say anything more about the matter. This is the second time in a few years that a district court judgment has been overturned as a result of the co-judge in question’s lack of competence. In 2017, a judgment in another financial criminal case was overturned. Also then, it was because of the conflict the co-judge had with the Tax Agency. Rett24 mentioned the case first. The district court judgment from Søndre Østfold District Court was overturned by the Borgarting Court of Appeal in January this year. Photo: Trond Reidar Teigen / NTB – New to me Meddommaren is still a working auditor, even though he was stripped of his state authorization following an inspection case several years ago. In an e-mail the co-judge sent in November last year, he wrote that he chose to “suppress” the supervision case. He claims he never learned that he was assessed as incompetent in the case from 2017. – It is new to me that a sentence should have been overturned due to incompetence, says the e-mail signed by the co-judge. The Court of Appeal believes the e-mail shows that the auditor “still holds grudges against the tax authorities as a result of the supervisory case”. Does not have routines for notification Borgarting Court of Appeal does not have fixed routines for notifying fellow judges who are known to be incompetent. Senior adviser Annicken Michaelsen tells news. – Whether a fellow judge who was found incompetent in Borgarting in 2017 knew about the decision or not, we cannot answer. Read the full response from the Court of Appeal “In all cases that are dealt with in Norwegian courts, a concrete assessment of the judge’s – or judges’ – competence is carried out. This applies regardless of the form of treatment – that is, regardless of whether the case is decided after written treatment, or whether oral negotiations are held. It is first and foremost up to each individual judge to disclose matters that may have something to say about the competency assessment. In cases where oral proceedings are held, the parties are given the opportunity to comment on the competence of the judge – or judges. It is important to emphasize that circumstances which may indicate that a judge is incompetent in one case do not necessarily make the relevant judge incompetent in another case. It is relatively rare that a judge’s disqualification leads to the annulment of court decisions after an appeal to a higher instance. Whether a fellow judge who was found incompetent in a decision from Borgarting in 2017 was informed of this result, it is not possible for the Court of Appeal to answer. As the problem arises so rarely, and as the circumstances surrounding each individual case will necessarily vary greatly, there are no fixed routines for passing on this type of information.” Anka the case To Rett24, Arnt Angell, who is defending the businessman, says that he was not aware of the issue when the case went to court last autumn. Arnt Angell at Elden Advokatfirma defends the businessman who has now had the judgment against him overturned. Photo: Johan Ánte Utsi / news After Angell was informed of the possible disqualification, his client chose to appeal the case. – Although there is no formal requirement that the co-judge is state authorised, it is actually stated on the judgment that he is. Then it’s about the general trust, says Angell to Rett24.
ttn-69
The Court of Appeal overturns the verdict because fellow judges were incompetent – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
