Abstract
A proposal for the revision of the rule regulating involuntary psychiatric treatment of criminally insane offenders has been accepted by the Norwegian parliament. As a result, greater emphasis will be placed on the requirement of ‘danger’ in future decisions on whether criminally insane offenders shall be subjected to sanctions. This paper gives an overview of the rule in question and makes a preliminary analysis of the legal contents of the danger requirement. Possible problem-areas that have not been addressed in the proposal for revision are identified. The need for future research is explained.
Highlights
Danger is an increasingly central phenomenon in the Norwegian criminal justice system.[1]
Danger is utilised in a prospective sense, in provisions aimed at avoiding feared and unwanted future actions from certain individuals
The paper is organised as follows: section two presents the rule in question and the proposal for revision, section three discusses the legal definitions of the danger requirement, section four analyses factors used in the assessment of danger, section five examines the factual assumptions under which danger assessments are made, and section six draws conclusions from reflections on the findings
Summary
Danger is an increasingly central phenomenon in the Norwegian criminal justice system.[1]. It is at the heart of retrospective considerations of certain criminalised acts, and may have implications for evaluations of excuses and defences. This paper makes a preliminary analysis of the central sources of law in an effort to reveal the meaning of danger in the context of Penal Code section 62.4 I will identify several problematic issues which are not resolved in the recent revision. The paper is organised as follows: section two presents the rule in question and the proposal for revision, section three discusses the legal definitions of the danger requirement, section four analyses factors used in the assessment of danger, section five examines the factual assumptions under which danger assessments are made, and section six draws conclusions from reflections on the findings
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