Apr 15, 2025
The Age of Criminal Responsibility in Norwegian Law: History, Legislation, and the Role of Child Welfare Services
In Norwegian criminal law, there is an absolute principle that children below a certain age cannot be punished. This principle is enshrined in the Penal Code § 46: "No one can be punished for actions committed before the age of 15." This article provides an overview of the rules regarding the age of criminal responsibility, the historical background of the current legislation, and the alternative measures that can be implemented for children who commit offenses.
The Age of Criminal Responsibility - Fundamental Principles
The age of criminal responsibility is an absolute rule with no discretionary exceptions. Even though there is no personality change the moment a person turns 15, and despite individual differences in maturation time, legislators have, for technical legal reasons, set the boundary at a specific age without considering the level of development.
A person is considered to be 15 years old, and thus criminally responsible, from the day of their 15th birthday. This aligns best with common language and legal perception.
Historical Development
The age of criminal responsibility has undergone several changes in Norwegian law:
The Criminal Code of 1842: Included two age limits, one absolute and one relative. Children under 10 were exempt from punishment. Children between 10 and 15 were exempt for minor offenses, but for serious crimes, it depended on whether the child was deemed capable of "understanding the criminal nature of the act."
The Penal Code of 1902: The age was set at 14 years. This occurred by law on June 6, 1896, and took effect in 1900, simultaneously with the Guardianship Law.
1987: The age was raised to 15 years, but implementation was postponed.
January 1, 1990: The raised age of 15 years came into effect. The postponement was due to the desire to establish closed institutions within child protection services for handling the most criminally burdened children.
The increase in the age of criminal responsibility to 15 years brought Norwegian legislation in line with the laws of other Nordic countries.
Measures for Children Under 15
Although children under 15 cannot be punished, interventions can certainly occur when they engage in criminal acts. This is primarily a matter for child protection services, but the police also have an important role.
Police Investigation
According to the Criminal Procedure Act § 224, it is permissible to conduct an investigation even if the offender is under 15 years old:
For offenders between 12 and 15 years, the same investigative obligation applies as for those above the age of criminal responsibility (Criminal Procedure Act § 224, 2nd paragraph).
For offenders under 12, an investigation may be conducted (Criminal Procedure Act § 224, 3rd paragraph).
As a consequence of the investigative obligation, the prosecution can decide that cases with offenders under 15 should be transferred to child protection services (Criminal Procedure Act § 71 b).
The police investigation can help stop a criminal development in the child, and the information the investigation reveals can be crucial when the child protection services assess measures.
Role of Child Protection Services
Intervention against criminal children under 15 must be through measures under the Child Welfare Act, not through punishment. The Child Welfare Act of 1992 includes specific provisions for children who have shown serious behavioral problems, including serious or repeated criminality.
In decisions under the Child Welfare Act, "priority shall be given to finding measures that are in the best interest of the child" (Child Welfare Act § 4-1). This constitutes a fundamental difference between child welfare measures and punitive responses. One cannot intervene against a child to achieve a deterrent effect on other young people - general preventive considerations do not belong in child protection.
The legislative preparatory work also explicitly states that it is not the task of child protection services to take care of the child to protect the society. Neither should considerations towards the parents outweigh where parental and child interests conflict.
Extent of Juvenile Crime
Juvenile crime plays a not insignificant practical role. Those who career off early also account for a significant portion of later repeat offenders in the judicial system.
In 2001, of the perpetrators apprehended by the police ("suspects"), just over 4000 were under 15 years old, which is about five percent of the total. These are mostly relatively trivial matters, especially shoplifting and vandalism, but there are also children who engage in extensive and by no means insignificant criminality. In rare cases, serious individual acts, such as murder or arson, may occur.
History of the Child Welfare Act
The role of child protection in handling children who commit criminal acts has evolved over time:
The Guardianship Law of 1896
The forerunner to child protection legislation was the law of 1896 on the treatment of neglected children (the Guardianship Law). The law established a system of municipal boards, guardianships, to take care of neglected or criminal children. The law saw its primary task as ensuring such children were removed from their poor environment to a better one.
If the reason for intervention was a child's criminal offense, there was typically compulsory placement in one of the state school homes. Although the idea was that this should be upbringing and education to also benefit the child itself, the gap between ideals and realities was often large.
The Child Welfare Act of 1953
The Child Welfare Act of 1953 took a different approach. It primarily focused on preventive measures to avoid placement. Only when other measures were deemed useless, or if they had been tried without success, could child welfare authorities decide to take over the care of the child.
Under the Child Welfare Act of 1953, the previous guardianships were replaced by municipal child welfare boards.
The Child Welfare Act of 1992
The current Child Welfare Act (Act on Child Welfare Services) of July 17, 1992 no. 100 is based on the desire that municipalities be free to organize child protection tailored to the municipality's overall organization. Each municipality should have an administration responsible for child protection (the municipal child protection service).
With the new law, emphasis was placed on strengthening children’s legal protection through extensive procedural rules. Coercive interventions are no longer conducted by municipal bodies but by a court-like county board. Certain time limits were also set in law for the duration of a coercive intervention.
Reactions to Juvenile Crime under the Child Welfare Act
The Child Welfare Act presumes that milder types of measures should be attempted before more serious interventions are made. The most extensive intervention against a child is placement and detention in an institution without personal consent (§ 4-24).
The condition for such placement is that the child has exhibited serious behavioral problems through:
Serious or repeated criminality
Persistent substance abuse
In other forms (e.g., by prostitution)
Types of Institutional Placement
According to the law, there are two types of institutional placements:
Short-term Placement: The child can be placed in an institution for observation, examination, and short-term treatment for up to four weeks. With a new decision, the placement time can be extended by up to four more weeks.
Long-term Placement: When it is likely that the child needs more prolonged treatment, they can be placed in a treatment or training institution for up to 12 months. With a new decision, the placement time can, in special cases, be extended by up to 12 more months. The absolute maximum duration for placement, therefore, becomes two years.
The child protection service should continuously follow up on the placement and reassess the measure after six months.
Age Limits and Child Protection Competence
Child protection's competence does not end at the age of 15 but can intervene until the young person is 18. For offenders aged between 15 and 18, there may, therefore, be both punishment and child welfare measures. However, opting for compulsory institutional placement prevents a later criminal case concerning the same issue.
The age at the time of intervention is crucial for child protection's competence, not the age at the time of the offense like with criminal responsibility. If a 14-year-old commits a serious crime and this is not discovered until after they turn 18, authorities do not have a basis to intervene against them, either with criminal charges or child welfare measures.
If placement in an institution is implemented by child protection before the perpetrator turns 18, the decision can be carried out as determined by the county board, even if they turn 18 during the placement period.
The Role of the County Board
The issue of institutional placement and several other important matters under the Child Welfare Act shall be decided by a county board. The county board consists of a chairperson with legal education and experience, two expert members, and two lay members.
In terms of the proceedings before the board, standard judicial principles are largely followed:
The municipal child protection service brings the case before the board
The child protection service should be represented by an attorney during the case
The private party, i.e., the parents and the child, is entitled to have an attorney appointed
In a case concerning measures for children with behavioral problems, the child has rights as a party regardless of age
Before the county board makes its decision, a hearing must be held with the parties to review the case with documentation and witness examination. This meeting is always held behind closed doors. The board's decision must be reasoned according to the rules in the Dispute Act on the reasoning of judgments.
In certain cases, the municipal child protection official or the prosecution may make a provisional decision ("emergency decision") about placement. The condition is that there is a risk that the child will suffer significant harm by remaining at home.
Even though the county board is an independent and autonomous body and follows court-like principles in its proceedings, its decisions are, legally speaking, administrative decisions, which can be brought before the courts for judicial review.
Conclusion
The age of criminal responsibility at 15 years means that children below this age cannot be punished for offenses. However, this does not render society helpless against juvenile crime. Through child welfare measures, with the county board as the supervisory body, a system has been established that aims to safeguard the child's best interest while attempting to curb criminal development at an early stage.
The system is based on the principle that punishment is not an effective tool for children, and that instead, measures of a therapeutic and preventive nature must be implemented. By having the primary goal of helping the child - not to protect society or to set an example for others - this system fundamentally differs from the criminal justice system.
