Jury

In serious criminal cases, the question of guilt is decided by a jury. The jury consists of 10 members: five women and five men.

Members of the jury are drawn by lot on the basis of panels of people who are designated by the municipal council after each municipal election. The term of office is four years.

To be a member of the jury, you must be at least 18, be reliable, and be eligible for election to the council in municipal elections. Section 76, first subsection of the Courts of Justice Act states that

"Nominations for members of the jury and lay judges should include only people who on the basis of their high moral character, skill and independence are regarded as especially suited to the office, and who will not because of inadequate knowledge of the Norwegian language or for other reasons have difficulties in fulfilling the duties that the office entails."

For each jury case, 14 members of the jury and two alternate members are drawn by lot. At the start of the case, the court sits with a jury comprising 10 of the potential members present. To reduce the number of members to 10, the prosecutor and the defendant are each given the opportunity to challenge up to three potential members (select people to exclude from the jury). If the right to challenge remains fully or partly unused, lots are drawn until 10 members remain, five of each gender.

After this, the members of the jury take their seats and elect their foreman. The foreman leads the deliberations of the jury, and he or she is the link between the jury and the Court of Appeal. The foreman will also participate in any determination of sentence together with three other members of the jury drawn by lot. Here, too, gender equality applies.

The jury follows the appeal hearing without playing an active role in the progression of the case; the presiding judge is in charge of the proceedings. The jury may however request that questions be put to the defendant, witnesses and experts, and may also address enquiries to the Court of Appeal regarding their wishes in connection with the case. Such enquiries take place as a request from the foreman of the jury to the presiding judge.

After the presentation of evidence and argument about the question of guilt, the jury is presented with one or more questions for determination of the question of guilt/the issues in the case. After this, the jury withdraws to a private room to consider its verdict and vote on the question(s). At least seven votes are required for an answer that is in disfavour of the defendant. In most cases, the jury's answers will be used as the basis for the judgement in the case.

For members of the jury, the same rules on impartiality apply as for professional judges. It is therefore important for members of the jury who have been drawn by lot for a case to notify the court as soon as possible if any issues such as kinship, relationships by marriage, friendship, business connections or other matters could cast doubt on their impartiality. This applies in relation to everybody who takes part in the case.

A member of the jury who is drawn by lot to serve in a case may be exempted from the duty to testify, but the conditions for exemption are extremely strict. A link to more detailed information about conditions for exemption appears below "Related information" on the right. A member of the jury who has been drawn by lot and who has not been exempted from service is obliged to attend the court hearing. This also applies to alternate (substitute) members of the jury.

Members of the jury are entitled to an allowance, currently NOK 250 per day, or to cover their loss of earnings, which must then be documented. Members of the jury are also entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses and a daily subsistence allowance. A link to more detailed information in Norwegian about the allowance and travel expense report appears under "Related information" on the right.