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There have been no changes to the law to increase the powers of the police and security services, terrorism legislation remains the same and there have been no

There have been no changes to the law to increase the powers of the police and security services, terrorism legislation remains the same and there have been no special provisions made for the trial of suspected terrorists. A white lie, I'm afraid. Lex Breivik [1] has changed the laws so that regional security departments have a lot more power, in fact more power than what prisons have as of today. [1]: http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnrk.no%2F227%2Fdag-for-dag%2Fna-er-_lex-breivik_-vedtatt-1.8217506 http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=no&...

j-g-faustus 14y ago
The "regional security departments" the article refers to are high-security psychiatric wards. The problem was that if the court declares Breivik insane, Norway couldn't (legally) put him in a high-security criminal prison, and there was no equivalent for psychiatric cases. Now there is. It is a change, and clearly in response to this case, but the scope of the change is limited.
- JeanPierre 14y ago
  The problem was that if the court declares Breivik insane, Norway couldn't (legally) put him in a high-security criminal prison. That's wrong - they can do that without Lex Breivik. The issue is when he's declared healthy, what would then happen? It's legal to detain him if it can be proved that he constitutes a danger to society. However, if he is not considered a danger to the society, he will be able to walk freely. With Lex Breivik, they will be allowed to detain him as long the society is a danger to the person. Think about that for a moment. With Lex Breivik, you can be isolated even if you've not done anything illegal (or have finished serving your imprisonment) or is considered healthy, because some people in the society want to do you harm.
  - j-g-faustus 14y ago
    That's not what I'm reading. (I assume that you too read Norwegian, so we're not discussing artifacts of Google Translate?) From an article on the opposition to the law[1] (my translation): The Department of Health hasn't tried to hide that the goal is a stricter set of laws which can be used if Breivik is sentenced to compulsory mental health care. The department has long wanted a change of laws to improve the security in institutions that hold highly dangerous patients. This work was sped up after July 22. See also [2], which says approximately the same thing. The criticisms I've seen seem to center on that the new law makes it too simple to declare someone "dangerously insane". Do you have a link supporting your interpretation? [1] http://nrk.no/227/dag-for-dag/lovforslag-moter-kraftig-motbor-1.8126075 http://nrk.no/227/dag-for-dag/lovforslag-moter-kraftig-motbo... [2] http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Lex-Breivik-splitter-opposisjonen-6847648.html http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Lex-Breivik-splitter...
    - JeanPierre 14y ago
      I think we're disagreeing on definitions and words, not what's going to change. We already have "high security" psychiatric wards, but they want to increase the security and have specific people placed in those "especially high security" wards. People can be placed there if there is a risk of "attacks against the patient themselves", which is as far I know not (directly) caused by mental disorder in the patient. Take a look at http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/hod/dok/regpubl/prop/2011-2012/prop-108-l-20112012/10.html?id=681628 http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/hod/dok/regpubl/prop/2011-2... - esp. § 4A-8, which states the new changes in the law.
- qw 14y ago
  I agree. It was a known weakness in the system that had been discussed before the event. The change would have happened eventually. Breivik speeded the process, because he was such a clear example of someone you don't want back on the streets.

j-g-faustus 14y ago

The "regional security departments" the article refers to are high-security psychiatric wards. The problem was that if the court declares Breivik insane, Norway couldn't (legally) put him in a high-security criminal prison, and there was no equivalent for psychiatric cases. Now there is. It is a change, and clearly in response to this case, but the scope of the change is limited.

JeanPierre 14y ago
The problem was that if the court declares Breivik insane, Norway couldn't (legally) put him in a high-security criminal prison. That's wrong - they can do that without Lex Breivik. The issue is when he's declared healthy, what would then happen? It's legal to detain him if it can be proved that he constitutes a danger to society. However, if he is not considered a danger to the society, he will be able to walk freely. With Lex Breivik, they will be allowed to detain him as long the society is a danger to the person. Think about that for a moment. With Lex Breivik, you can be isolated even if you've not done anything illegal (or have finished serving your imprisonment) or is considered healthy, because some people in the society want to do you harm.
- j-g-faustus 14y ago
  That's not what I'm reading. (I assume that you too read Norwegian, so we're not discussing artifacts of Google Translate?) From an article on the opposition to the law[1] (my translation): The Department of Health hasn't tried to hide that the goal is a stricter set of laws which can be used if Breivik is sentenced to compulsory mental health care. The department has long wanted a change of laws to improve the security in institutions that hold highly dangerous patients. This work was sped up after July 22. See also [2], which says approximately the same thing. The criticisms I've seen seem to center on that the new law makes it too simple to declare someone "dangerously insane". Do you have a link supporting your interpretation? [1] http://nrk.no/227/dag-for-dag/lovforslag-moter-kraftig-motbor-1.8126075 http://nrk.no/227/dag-for-dag/lovforslag-moter-kraftig-motbo... [2] http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Lex-Breivik-splitter-opposisjonen-6847648.html http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Lex-Breivik-splitter...
  - JeanPierre 14y ago
    I think we're disagreeing on definitions and words, not what's going to change. We already have "high security" psychiatric wards, but they want to increase the security and have specific people placed in those "especially high security" wards. People can be placed there if there is a risk of "attacks against the patient themselves", which is as far I know not (directly) caused by mental disorder in the patient. Take a look at http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/hod/dok/regpubl/prop/2011-2012/prop-108-l-20112012/10.html?id=681628 http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/hod/dok/regpubl/prop/2011-2... - esp. § 4A-8, which states the new changes in the law.
qw 14y ago
I agree. It was a known weakness in the system that had been discussed before the event. The change would have happened eventually. Breivik speeded the process, because he was such a clear example of someone you don't want back on the streets.