A form of victim-offender mediation has been used in Norway for 20 years.  Mediation boards are now available in every municipality.  Key points in this development include: 

• In the mid-70s, two key papers began to influence Norwegian thinking.  The first, criminologist Nils Christie's article “Conflict as Property”, was published in 1976.  It argued that conflicts between people had been "stolen" by government and reconfigured as prosecutions against lawbreakers.  He argued for the return of the conflict to the parties.  Two years later, the government issued a report on the state of juvenile justice as preparation for an anticipated increase of the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 15.  That report included a number of options for dealing with juvenile justice, including mediation.

• From 1981-1983 the municipality of Lier carried out a pilot project introducing mediation for juvenile offenders.  This was part of the national response to the 1978 study.  Mediation was clearly understood at that time to be a diversionary program for juveniles, but it did open up the opportunity for victims who wanted to meet with their offenders to do so.

• In 1983, the Ministry of Social Affairs asked all local governments in Norway to create mediation programmes.

• In 1983 and 1985 the Director General of Public Prosecutions issued two circulars urging police to use the mediation programmes. 

• In 1988 and 89, the Attorney General called for national legislation to establish a Mediation Service, and urged that it no longer be restricted to offenders under 18 years of age charged with their first offenses, although it was limited to offenses that did not qualify for immediate custody.  

• In 1991 the Parliament passed the Act on Mediation through the Mediation Service. 

Currently, each municipality has access to one of 40 Mediation Services with 700 trained mediators available to address both civil and criminal cases. Victim-offender mediation is used

• with both adult and juvenile offenders
• where there is an identifiable victim
• when both parties consent to the process.

Referrals to mediation are either requested by the parties or recommended by the prosecuting authority. In cases of violence, the mediation office arranges pre-meetings with the parties to prepare them for the meeting. Although friends or supporters may accompany the victim and the offender, these persons are not allowed to actively participate in the process.  

Legal Aid for Victims

Several of Norway's victim's rights laws provide victims a way to participate in criminal proceedings and to obtain restitution.  

A number of European jurisdictions grant victims the right to have a lawyer represent their interests in criminal proceedings.  In Norway, however, this is extended in cases of rape and other violent crimes to provision of legal aid to the victim. The victim's lawyer has several responsibilities:

• protecting the victim during questioning by police and in court

• contacting local care agencies

• updating the victim on developments in the case

• appealing against decisions to drop the case

• ensuring compensation claims presented in conjunction with the criminal case are complete

• preparing the victim for the court process

• ensuring that questioning during the case is not posed improperly or irrelevant to the case.

Compensation or restitution is also an important part of the Norwegian system. When the police first question a victim, they must ask if he or she would like to file a compensation claim to be considered concurrently with the prosecution.  This claim is decided at sentencing. 

The Norwegian government has established Victim support schemes in many areas. There are support centres for victims of incest and crisis centres  for battered women and victims of rape. Also, 25 medical emergency centres in the country provide specialized medical care for crime victims. 

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Resources Used. 

Brienen, MEI and E.H. Hoegen. 2000. Victims of Crime in 22 European Criminal Justice Systems: The Implementation of Recommendation (85)11 of the Council of Europe on the Position of the Victim in the Framework of Criminal Law and Procedure. Dissertation. The University of Tilberg. Nijmegen, The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Productions. 

Director General of public Prosecutions.  The Mediation and Conciliation Service. Circular Part II- No. 2/1993.

Miers, David. 2001. An International Review of Restorative Justice. Crime Reduction Research Series Paper 10. London: Home Office.

Paus, Karen. 1999. “Victim-Offender Mediation in Norway.” Presentation at the First Conference of the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice. October 27-29. Leuven, Belgium.   

Winsvold, Lars. N.d. “Norwegian Courts and the Administration of Justice.” Updated by Bard Thorsen.  

By Lynette Parker

December 2001