Partial setting aside of the Court of Appeal's judgment following reopening

A man was convicted in 2021 of grossly negligent sexual assault and acquitted on a second count of the indictment. The case was later reopened at the man's request. Following the new hearing in June 2025, the Court of Appeal convicted him of intentional sexual assault, but acquitted him again on the second count. The Court of Appeal also reconsidered the civil claim.

The case before the Supreme Court concerned the scope of the Court of Appeal's jurisdiction in the reopened proceedings and the significance for sentencing of amendments to the Penal Code of 1 July 2025.

The Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal could not reconsider the count on which the man had been acquitted. The reopening did not encompass that part of the 2021 judgment. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal's renewed examination of that count constituted a violation of the man's protection against being tried or punished twice for the same offence under Article 4 of Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In determining the sentence, the Supreme Court took as its starting point the Penal Code as it stood at the time of the original judgment in 2021. However, within the sentencing framework applicable at that time, the Supreme Court found no basis for disregarding more recent case law that has, in certain circumstances, lowered the sentencing level for sexual offences. The sentence was set at three years and two months' imprisonment, of which one year and five months was suspended.

For the compensation claim, the Supreme Court noted that the Criminal Procedure Act contained no provision governing the reopening of civil claims at the time the case was reopened. Nevertheless, weighty reasons supported the conclusion that the Court of Appeal could reconsider the civil claim in the reopened proceedings. The Supreme Court found no grounds for reducing the compensation.

The judgment provides guidance on the issues that may be reconsidered following the reopening of a criminal case and on the sentencing after reopening.

Areas of law: Criminal law. Reopening.

Key paragraphs: 62, 73 and 98

Justices: Webster, Steinsvik, Sivertsen, Vang, Horn