The Criminal Cases Review Commission may access audio recordings in the plane-drop case

The Criminal Cases Review Commission is considering requests for reopening from several convicted persons in a major case involving the importation of amphetamine from the Netherlands. The case was adjudicated in 1993. The requests are based on the fact that the importation was illegally provoked by a former police officer in cooperation with his informant, and that the convicted persons should therefore have been acquitted. In the criminal case against the former police officer and informant, which was heard in Borgarting Court of Appeal in 2019-2020, the two shared information about the case from 1993. These statements, which were recorded, were given behind closed doors under an order that the information be kept confidential permanently, see section 128 of the Courts of Justice Act. The Criminal Cases Review Commission has requested access to these audio recordings. The Court of Appeal dismissed the request. The Supreme Court, having conducted an oral hearing, found that the prohibition in section 28 subsection 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act had to be interpreted narrowly not to include the Criminal Cases Review Commission's request for a "transcript" of audio or visual recordings. Decisive emphasis was placed on the Commission's duty of secrecy and on its investigative responsibilities and special role in the criminal justice system. The decision of the Court of Appeal was set aside.

Read the whole order (Norwegian only) 

Area of law: Criminal procedure. Section 28 subsection 4 second sentence of the Criminal Procedure Act. 

Key paragraphs: 80-82

Justices: Normann, Arntzen, Høgetveit Berg, Thyness, Stenvik