Sub-projects

The project is led by dr.philos. Ragnar Auglend.

The project examines legal questions relating to the organisation and activities of the public search and rescue service, the relationship between the police and the Armed Forces in connection with terrorism and national crisis situations, and the legal position and tasks of the police in war and during an occupation.

Head of a sub-project is Associate Professor Knut Einar Skodvin.

In the case of large-scale terrorist attacks, hybrid situations and major cyber-attacks, the situation will often be unclear, at least in the initial phase. The sub-project investigates the legal framework for the division of competence and duty to act between the police and the Armed Forces in such unclear situations.

The project is led by associate Professor Gert Johan Kjelby

The point of departure for the project is the general trend in several countries of giving the public prosecution services a stronger and stronger role in criminal proceedings, including increasing the authority’s power to itself impose penal sanctions (fines and confiscation etc.) without court proceedings, and to enter into various forms of plea agreements/settlements in criminal cases. At the same time, a number of other public authorities are given greater power to impose administrative sanctions for offences that are liable to penal sanctions and that are within the remit of the prosecuting authority. These developments raise several fundamental questions and challenges, for example how such rules can best be formulated and practised between different public authorities, the coordination of police investigations with administrative bodies’ investigations, and coordination of the relevant sanctions for breaches of the law.

The third sub-project is linked to John Reidar Nilsen’s doctoral thesis. The research topic is the legal regulation of the police's right to use force when exercising authority. The national regulations are rather fragmentary, among other things because of extensive delegation of legislative competence. One fundamental question that is raised is the relationship between internal instructions and the basic requirements in the Police Act Section 6 (on necessity and justifiability). The aim of the thesis is to clarify the relationship between national rules at different levels and how the current statutory regulations relate to Norway’s obligations under international law, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights. One particular goal is to clarify whether, and to what extent, legal requirements exist for the training and dimensioning of operational police units.

Efficient processing of information (including collection, storage and sharing) and cooperation between the police, the prosecuting authority and other public control and supervisory agencies is of great importance to the discovery and investigation of crimes. The research topic highlights several legal questions. The legal authority for interdisciplinary cooperation and the roles and responsibilities of the different agencies need to be clarified. The rules concerning confidentiality, and exceptions from these rules pursuant to the Police Register Act, and other public agencies’ duty of confidentiality constitute the most important legal framework. The rules are formulated somewhat differently, and, in certain contexts, there may be intended or unintended legal obstacles to sharing information. In relation to cooperation, the purpose of sharing information is often decisive for what can be shared. This applies to information sharing both by and with the police.

The project will have a broad legal science perspective on the rules for cooperation and information sharing, particularly in cases where the police and the prosecuting authority participate in permanent or temporary interdisciplinary collaborations.

A research fellowship under this sub-project will be advertised.