The Execution of Sentences Act provides that female prisoners shall be searched preferably by female staff. If the search is carried out by a man, another staff member must be present. Urine samples are collected by female officers¹.

The national regulatory framework does not sufficiently consider the special situation of women. Pregnant women and mothers are an exception. Some women prisoners are still placed in cells without toilets¹.

International standards state: “Hygiene products, including sanitary towels and tampons, shall be readily available and distributed free of charge to prison inmates”. The NPM confirms that Norwegian prisons are compliant with these requirements.²

The administration must provide women with access to work, activities and education.

The Directorate of Correctional Services is working to improve the conditions for women by developing a five-year strategy.

Minors are not subject to a special justice system.

Minors may face the following penalties:

(a) Juvenile-friendly sentences or juvenile-friendly supervision under the responsibility of the Mediation Service (Konfliktrådet):

• “Juvenile sentence” (Ungdomsstraff): an alternative punishment to imprisonment. The Mediation Service decides on the conditions of service. Monitoring is carried out by a board appointed for this purpose.

• “Juvenile monitoring” (Ungdomsoppfølging): punishment like the previous one. It is shorter and is applied for less serious offences.

(b) Criminal proceedings, under the responsibility of the Correctional Service:

• imprisonment

• Conditional waiver of prosecution (follow-up determined by a plan)

• lectronic monitoring: the Correctional Service must, in accordance with the Execution of Sentences Act(Section 16), systematically check that a convicted juvenile offender satisfies the conditions for serving the sentence outside the prison.

The Mediation Service and the Correctional Service are both under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

Minors may be placed in a juvenile facility (Ungdomsenhet) or in a dedicated section of an adult facility. The two juvenile facilities are Bjørgvin Prison (west coast) and Eidsvoll Prison (eastern border). They house boys and girls aged 15-18. There are a total of eight places in juvenile facilities¹.

The administration offers more activities opportunities to minors. They have the same duty to be engaged in activities or work as the adults.

The staff in the Youth Units are trained to deal with minors. Half of the staff in these units is educational professionals and the other half is composed by correctional officers. The law provides that “entities that are established especially for inmates under the age of 18 must have an inter-agency team that shall safeguard the needs of young people during the execution of their sentence” (ESA, section 10).

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that imprisonment of minors should be a last resort, and that its duration should be kept as short as possible. The provisions of this instrument have recently been incorporated with other core conventions (ICCPR, UNCAT, CEDAW, ECHR) into the Norwegian Constitution. The Norwegian Supreme Court renders its decisions in accordance with these conventions. Incarceration of minors has decreased in recent years.

The predominant nationalities represented are Polish, Lithuanian, Albanian, Romanian and Somali.

Illegal residence is punishable by one year of imprisonment.

Foreign inmates can call their home countries. Prisoners have to pay for their calls and international calls are more expensive.

The administration can grant an extension of the telephone call duration if there are special reasons¹.

Relatives of the foreign prisoners do not have a special regime for visits. They have the possibility of using Skype in some prisons.

See the Visitation section for further information.

Persons serving a long sentence are not subject to a special detention policy.
Decisions concerning prisoners sentenced to more than 10 years (transfers, sentence adjustments, exit permits, etc.) are taken at the regional level (Penal Enforcement Act, section 6).

The duration of pre-trial custody, decided by the court, is not limited. It may be extended repeatedly. The average length of pre-trial detention is four weeks.

The law provides for an appeal against pre-trial custody before the judge or the Supreme Court.

Pre-trial custody is not always congruent with the presumption of innocence. This depends on the reason for detention.
Judicial authorities decide on the conditions relating to visits, mail, calls and access to the media.
Pre-trial persons may be kept in solitary confinement for investigative reasons. The Execution of Sentences Act provides that corrections officers must talk regularly to prisoners in solitary confinement.

There is no specific detention policy for prisoners belonging to an ethnic or religious group.

The protection of LGBTI prisoners is done on a case by case basis. The governor of the facility is responsible for evaluating the situation.
The Directorate of Correctional Services is working on developing procedures for the treatment of LGBTI prisoners.

Older persons are eligible, where appropriate, for special care.

The law does not provide for a specific early release programme for older persons.

Prison staff are trained to care for inmates with disabilities.

The death penalty was abolished in 1905 for ordinary crimes with the entry into force of the Penal Code of 22 May 1902. It still appears in the Code of Military Justice and was extended, for treason, after 1945.
The last execution for a common law crime took place in 1876. The last execution took place in 1948 for a crime falling within the scope of military justice.
The death penalty was fully abolished in 1979.