Review of an administrative decision in a criminal case

Justices: Indreberg, Webster, Kallerud. Bergsjø, Høgetveit Berg

In 2018, a Swedish citizen was expelled from Norway with a two years' entry ban. He returned to Norway in breach of the entry ban, and in 2019 he was convicted of, among other things, violation of section 108 subsection 3 e, cf. section 124 subsection 1 of the Immigration Act. He claimed that the entry ban was invalid and that he could thus not be convicted of breaching it. The Supreme Court stated that it was a condition for criminal liability that a valid entry ban had been breached. The Court therefore had to give a preliminary ruling on the validity of the administrative decision. The review should be the same as in a civil case, and as thorough as for the other conditions for criminal liability. The Supreme Court found that the administrative decision was valid. The alleged errors could not under any circumstances have affected the administrative decision, see section 41 of the Public Administration Act. The conditions for expulsion were considered met. The entry ban was not disproportionate and did not entail a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The defendant's appeal against the Court of Appeal's conviction was dismissed.