Trial lecture - time and place
Adjudication committee
- Professor Kristian Andenæs, University of Oslo (leader)
- Professor Margareta Bertilsson, University of Copenhagen (1. opponent)
- Professor Jørn Jacobsen, University of Bergen (2. opponent)
Chair of defence
Supervisors
- Vidar Halvorsen, University of Oslo
- Annick Ingrid Prieur, Aalborg University
Summary
Sentencing Theory in Post-war Norway: The Case of the Supreme Court tells the story of the functions and changes in sentencing theory in the Norwegian Supreme Court.
In the aftermath of the WWII, there have been dramatic changes when it comes to crime and crime control throughout Europe and the Western world.
These changes have been so great that leading experts in sociology and criminology have described the developments as a legitimation crisis for the modern systems of punishment.
To try to understand these alterations, social scientists have traditionally analyzed changes in crime rates, the use of prisons and the rise mass of incarceration.
Less scholarly attention has been dedicated to the courts. This lack of academic interest is unfortunate. Not only have the courts traditionally had wide discretionary powers in sentencing practices, they are moreover one of the leading institutions in carrying out, and legitimizing sentencing.
Sentencing Theory in Post-war Norway: The Case of the Supreme Court offers a historical sociological analysis of court verdicts in cases of offences for profit in post-war Norway.
Especially, there is a focus on the changes in the Supreme Courts understanding and view of Norwegian society and how this influences the rule of law.
The analysis follows in the theoretical tradition of classic modern social theorists.
Of particular importance has been the work of Max Weber, Niklas Luhman and Jürgen Habermas, whose analytical concepts have been transferred from their original contexts and purposes to shed light on modern Norwegian social and legal history.