– This is a good start, says leader of the Politijuristene in Oslo, Vilde Bjerke Rieber-Mohn. In the past year, youth crime has increased sharply. Among other things, the West police district reports a 40 per cent increase in youth crime. In Oslo, a stabbing in June had a fatal outcome and a 16-year-old has been charged with the murder. In Buskerud, a 17-year-old is in custody for grievous bodily harm after he stabbed a boy of the same age nine times. Common in these cases is that the suspects are under the criminal minimum age. Now the politicians have started to take action. The picture shows the scene where a 16-year-old died after a stabbing in Oslo this summer. Another 16-year-old is charged with the murder. Photo: Adnan Ayanle / PSP Now the changes are coming From 1 September several measures will come into force. Among other things, cases will go to court more quickly and sentences will be hit down harder if the conditions are breached. The court will also have its own youth judges and its own teams will follow up the young person from the offense to the completion of the sentence. Below you can read the measures that are being introduced: – Improved juvenile punishment and juvenile follow-up Must ensure faster implementation of the punishment Must give the courts more options for action and greater scope for individual assessments, including, among other things, the possibility of combining youth punishment with unconditional imprisonment and contact and residence restrictions with electronic control Shall simplify the legal framework for the reactions and ensure a more transparent and clearer set of regulations Shall facilitate better cross-sector cooperation Shall ensure good care for victims and the building of relationships around the young person The public prosecutor’s office can ban young people between the ages of 15 and 18 from staying in selected areas, without that they must walk with anklets. It is currently unknown when this will be introduced. Source: Ministry of Justice To protect against future crime The purpose is to help protect this group from committing future crime, writes the Ministry of Justice in an e-mail to news. – This will also ensure that young people who commit crime are punished more quickly and that the victims are looked after in a good way. According to the ministry, the ban will also help to discourage recruitment into unfavorable environments and break them up. The police lawyers in Oslo cheer for measures that contribute to combating youth crime. – We hope the measures will be useful and expect that the effect will be evaluated after a while, says Bjerke Rieber-Mohn in Politijuristene. The leader of the Association of Police Lawyers, Vilde Bjerke Rieber-Mohn. Photo: Jens Christian Sundby / news Fast-track court lets you wait To ensure a quick response to youth crime, the Oslo district court has proposed a “fast-track”. In October 2023, the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness set up a working group to investigate this. This is the “fast track”. Own teams of police investigators, prosecutors, judges, the Conflict Council and the Correctional Service work together to follow up young people from the offense to the completion of the sentence. The young person immediately notices the consequence if he does not carry out the punishment. A new, harsher sentence will come quickly if he breaks the terms of his prison sentence. The public prosecutor’s office brings cases to court quickly, so that the young person gets a reaction right away. The court has its own youth judges who take the cases straight away. Source: Oslo District Court Even before Christmas last year, the Conservative Party, Liberal Party and FRP wanted to adopt the necessary legislative changes to speed up the process. In June this year, the government presented a bill, which is now being considered in the justice committee. It takes a long time from the judgment to the start of the sentence at the Correctional Service or the Conflict Council. Many do not show up, and it also takes a long time before there are consequences. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit The Ministry of Justice states that no date has yet been set for the Storting’s consideration. A fast track will cost NOK 28 million and will require more investigators, youth prosecutors, judges, as well as employees of the Correctional Service and the Conflict Council. The ministry will not answer whether there will be money for this in next year’s state budget. Only when the money arrives can the planning begin. This is the current situation, according to Oslo District Court This is the current situation for mostly active young people, according to Oslo District Court. Communications manager Irene Ramm has sent the answers to news by e-mail: The police collect several cases on the most active young people before they go to court. It takes a long time before the trial can start. Thus, the reaction also comes very late. Often too late for young people to change their course in life. Often he has become an adult before he receives a tangible punishment, and many have to serve time in adult prison. It also takes a long time from the judgment to the punishment starting at the Correctional Service or the Conflict Council. Many do not show up for the start of the sentence. It also takes a long time before it has consequences. Meanwhile, young people often commit new crimes. Then the police have to spend time putting out fires, while the cases pile up. Many active young people are detained, but are released again after a few weeks. They have not received a sentence and therefore do not start a sentence that can get them away from crime. Instead, they are detained again after a while. This a vicious spiral. It is not good for the criminal youths, their victims or for society. The changes to the law on 1 September do not solve this. This is about a lack of people and resources within the criminal justice system. Published 01.09.2024, at 20.19
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Young offenders will now be punished more quickly – Greater Oslo
