Father deprived of parental responsibility after killing mother

The child in question is currently seven years old. When the child was four, the mother was killed by the father shortly after a separation, for which the father was sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment. The child welfare service took over the care of the child, who now lives in a foster home.

At the time of the homicide, the father had joint parental responsibility with the mother. The question before the Supreme Court was whether he should be deprived of parental responsibility.

The Supreme Court stated that when one parent kills the other, the act of homicide constitutes special circumstances that may necessitate the removal of parental responsibility to protect the child. While in certain cases, it may be in the child's best interest for the perpetrator to retain parental responsibility, homicide demonstrates such a severe disregard for the child's well-being that it would generally require extraordinary justification for this to be the outcome.

In this specific case, the Supreme Court concluded that the conditions for depriving the father of parental responsibility were clearly met. The father's act demonstrated his lack of the necessary qualities for it to be in the child's best interest for him to retain parental responsibility. There is a significant risk that the child, who is vulnerable, will be harmed simply by knowing that his father can make decisions for him.

The judgment provides clarifications on the general conditions for the deprivation of parental responsibility under the Child Welfare Act, as well as the necessary assessments in cases where one parent has killed the other.

Read the judgment from the Supreme Court (Norwegian only) (PDF)

Area of law: Child welfare law. Section 5-8 of the Child Welfare Act. 

Key paragraphs: 49, 50, 58 og 59.

Justice: Falkanger, Hellerslia, Stenvik, Sivertsen, Poulsen