Criminal Cases
Since August 1995, all criminal cases which go to court are tried at the district court first. Prior to this, the most serious cases were tried in the Court of appeal (lagmannsrett). Regular trials are usually held before a panel of three judges, one professional and two lay judges. In particularly difficult cases the bench may consist of five judges (two professional and three lay judges). Verdicts and sentences are determined by a majority vote, with the lay judges' votes counting the same as the professional judge. If there is a full confession, and the defendant agrees to it, the trial may be held before a single professional judge who hears the case and determines sentencing.
Read more about this topic: District Court (Norway)
Famous quotes containing the words criminal and/or cases:
“A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.”
—Clifford Irving (b. 1930)
“There are some cases ... in which the sense of injury breeds—not the will to inflict injuries and climb over them as a ladder, but—a hatred of all injury.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)