Milder reactions to addicts' possession of drugs for own use
Supreme Court judgment 8 April 2022, HR-2022-731-A, (case no. 21-159952STR-HRET), criminal case, appeal against judgment.
The Public Prosecution Authority (Counsel Alf Butenschøn Skre) v. A (Counsel John Christian Elden)
The reaction to violation of section 231 subsection 1 of the Penal Code – storage of four grams of heroin for personal use – was waiver of sentencing, see section 61. The convicted person was a heavy drug addict, and considered to be in the core area of the legislative signals given during the Storting's discussion of the drug reform. The Supreme Court stated that these signals had to have a significant impact on the sentencing. The Court also stated that around five grams of heroin, amphetamine or cocaine for personal use may be an indicative limit on the amount covered by the altered sentence, and that a waiver was the reaction that, in a case like the present, best corresponded with the legislative signals. The defense counsel's submission that conviction in a case like this would be a violation of Article 102 of the Constitution cf. Article 8 of the ECHR did not succeed.
Key paragraphs: 44, 70
Area of law: Criminal law. Section 231 of the Penal Code, section 31 subsection 2, cf. section 24 subsection 1 of the Medicine Act. Sections 61, 34 and 48 of the Penal Code.
Justices: Skoghøy, Webster, Kallerud, Bergsjø, Steinsvik