Norway’s criminal justice system ranks as one of the most impartial in the world. Yet with partner NRK, we found that people are on trial not only for what they may have done, but for who they are.
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Data-driven criminal justice reporting is hard to do in Europe. Obtaining verdicts and usable data is difficult. Norway, which has no centralized database of verdicts, is no different
So we built our own database containing 1000s of criminal cases, defendants and judges from Norway’s criminal justice system, which ranks as one of the most impartial in the world. All to answer the question: does who you are affect the sentence you receive?
Income, age, gender and migration background are associated with sentencing, even when accounting for 12s of other factors, like convictions & aggravating factors
Our findings in particular point to stark class injustice within Norwegian courts. Jakob and Frank are part of a larger pattern where those who earn the least are punished more harshly than those who earn the most.
But for defendants like Frank and Jakob, this is about more than statistics. This is about the difference between freedom and imprisonment. NRK reports on how Frank went to prison – and a rich man went free
We found disparities beyond income, too. Even when accounting for other factors, women receive shorter sentences than men. Older judges hand out longer sentences than younger judges—and punish migrant defendants especially harshly.
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