Incarceration in Norway

Norway's criminal justice system focuses on the principles of restorative justice and the rehabilitation of prisoners. Correctional facilities in Norway focus on maintaining custody of the offender and attempting to make them functioning members of society. Norway's prison system is renowned as one of the most effective and humane in the world.

Norway has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world; in 2018 the reconviction rate was 18% within two years of release, with a recidivism rate of 25% after five years.^[1] The country also has one of the lowest crime rates on Earth.^[2][3][4] Norway's prison system houses approximately three thousand offenders.^[5]

Norway's laws forbid the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment as punishment. Prison conditions typically meet international standards, and the government permits visits by human rights observers. The system is considered to be transparent, and prisoners are represented by an ombudsman, an official appointed to investigate individuals’ complaints against public authority.^[6]

Norway does not instate capital punishment or life imprisonment. The maximum custodial sentence is 21 years (30 for crimes against humanity and only life imprisonment for military crimes);^[4] however, at the end of the initial prison term the courts have the power to add five-year increments to the prisoner’s sentence every five years, indefinitely, if it is determined the prisoner is not rehabilitated.^[7]