ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the Norwegian model for compensation for wrongful convictions. Although Norway has an administrative body – the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission – outside the court system that decides on reopening cases, the question of guilt or not is decided by an ordinary court, not the Commission. If the reopened case ends with acquittal, the exonerated person may apply for compensation from the State Civil Law Administration, which is a centralized governmental administrative body that decides on compensation.
There are however two other routes to gaining compensation. If the acquitted person is unsatisfied with the amount decided by the State Civil Law Administration, he/she may take the compensation case to a court for a civil trial. If the case is an extraordinary case with long sentencing and the responsibility for the errors of justice is obvious, the government may decide on compensation, often followed by an apology for what has happened.
