Norwegian Justice System Condemned in Historic Miscarriage of Justice

A major investigative report has delivered a scathing critique of Norway's justice system, concluding that Viggo Kristiansen should never have been convicted. The Baneheia Committee’s nearly 800-page report, titled “The Prosecution of Viggo Kristiansen,” identifies failures in evidence evaluation as the primary reason for his wrongful conviction and the long delay, violating the core legal principle that guilt must be established beyond reasonable doubt. The report places its harshest criticism on Norwegian courts, noting they ignored critical evidence, including mobile phone data showing Kristiansen wasn’t at the crime scene during the murders. Instead of accepting this data as supporting his alibi, the district court proposed three untested theories to undermine its value. These theories had not been properly investigated or challenged during trial. Meanwhile, both police and media fell into what the report calls a “confirmation bias trap,” focusing only on evidence that fit their initial assumptions. The Gjenopptakelseskommisjonen, Norway’s commission for reviewing closed criminal cases, also faced strong rebuke. The committee found it failed its duty by not acting on clear grounds to reopen the case as early as 2011. The report stresses that free evaluation of evidence must be rational and reviewable, not based on gut feeling. This case now stands alongside past judicial errors involving Per Liland and Fritz Moen.