The court's duty to give guidance for civil claims in a criminal case

Justices: Indreberg, Webster, Bergh, Sæbø, Lindsetmo

The two defendants in a rape case had been acquitted of the charges in the court of appeal, but ordered to pay damages for non-economic loss to the aggrieved party. Due to the acquittal, section 11 of the Statute of Limitations was not applicable. Counsel for the defendant had however not asserted that the claim was time-barred, and the Supreme Court found that the Court of Appeal's lack of guidance on the limitation of action issue was not due to a procedural error. Section 11-2 of the Dispute Act applies in connection with civil claims in a criminal case. The court could then not base its ruling on limitation of action without this having been asserted by the parties. The assessment of the Court of Appeal's duty to provide guidance had to be based on section 11-5 of the Dispute Act. Special circumstances must be present for the court to have a duty to give guidance to a party that is represented by counsel. Nor was it clear that the two defendants had suffered a loss of rights by not having asserted limitation. Overall, the situation was not such that the Court of Appeal had committed a procedural error by not giving guidance on the limitation of action issue.