Care responsibilities led to a partially suspended prison sentence

The convicted person had committed extensive economic crime, with a total potential loss exceeding NOK 3 million. The question before the Supreme Court was whether the convicted person’s care responsibilities for a severely disabled daughter could justify a community sentence or a suspended prison sentence.

The Supreme Court set the sentence at two years and one month of imprisonment, of which eight months were suspended with a two‑year probation period. In addition, the amount ordered confiscated was set at approximately NOK 2.3 million.

The Supreme Court emphasised that the child’s situation clearly supported a non-custodial sentence, but that strong considerations of generel deterrence rendered a community sentence inappropriate. Weight was placed on the fact that the case concerned highly socially harmful conduct, carried out in a deliberate and systematic manner, with profit as the principal motive. To reduce the burden on the child – who also had a mother with limited caregiving capacity – part of the sentence was suspended. The Court also referred to the possibility of making suitable arrangements during the period of imprisonment, as well as various forms of municipal support which, in cooperation with the mother, could further ease the burden.

The judgment provides guidance on the significance of particularly demanding care responsibilities in the sentencing.

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

Key paragraphs: 36, 62–64

Area of law: Criminal law, community sentence, section 48 of the Penal Code

Dommere: Falkanger, Noer, Arntzen, Lund, Vang