 | This article's factual accuracy is disputed .(December 2012) |
In Norway, an act of murder (mord or drap) is, as in other legal systems, illegal and considered a very serious offense.
| This article's factual accuracy is disputed .(December 2012) |
In Norway, an act of murder (mord or drap) is, as in other legal systems, illegal and considered a very serious offense.
Until 2015, murder was classified and punished as follows:
| English | Norwegian | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| First Degree Murder | overlagt drap | is a murder committed with the intention of taking the life of another, by a person fully sane and aware of what he or she is doing, and having planned the act of murder ahead. Planned murder is punished with up to 21 years of imprisonment, regardless of the number of murder victims. Under special circumstances, like a murder of severe cruelty, mass murder, or if there is reason to believe the offender may commit murder again, additional years of imprisonment can be given. This is known as forvaring (custody). [1] This usually takes place at a court hearing near the end of the sentence. Forvaring (custody) is not a punishment, but a measure to protect the public. |
| Second Degree Murder | forsettlig drap | is a murder committed with the intention of taking the life of another or knowing that death will be the most likely outcome of an action, by a person fully sane and aware of what he or she is doing, without the act of murder having been planned ahead. Murder of passion usually falls into this category. Intentional murder is punished by 6 to 12 years of imprisonment. [2] |
| Manslaughter | uaktsomt drap | is defined as a case where someone has been killed as a result of the offenders neglect. For example, a car driver may be convicted for murder if someone is killed as a result of his or her careless driving. Murder as a result of neglect is punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment, or 6 years in the case of serious neglect. [3] |
Assisted suicide is generally illegal in Norway, and will in most cases be treated as planned murder, although the punishment may be milder depending on the circumstances.
Euthanasia (aktiv dødshjelp) has been much debated in Norway. Some groups have expressed that it should be legal in cases where the victim is sane and fully aware of what he or she is asking for. Acts of euthanasia, however, are illegal, and are treated as any other form of assisted suicide.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2021) |
In 2015, a new penal code came into force. Murder, and other violent offenses resulting in death, are defined in Chapter 25. Violent offences, etc. [4]
Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence of malice, such as in the case of voluntary manslaughter brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity. Involuntary manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.
Assisted suicide, also known as physician-assisted suicide (PAS), describes the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes drugs to end their life.
The age of criminal responsibility is the age below which a child is deemed incapable of having committed a criminal offence. In legal terms, it is referred to as a defence/defense of infancy, which is a form of defense known as an excuse so that defendants falling within the definition of an "infant" are excluded from criminal liability for their actions, if at the relevant time, they had not reached an age of criminal responsibility. After reaching the initial age, there may be levels of responsibility dictated by age and the type of offense committed.
The right to die is a concept rooted in the belief that individuals have the autonomy to make fundamental decisions about their own lives, including the choice to end them or undergo voluntary euthanasia, central to the broader notion of health freedom. This right is often associated with cases involving terminal illnesses or incurable pain, where assisted suicide provides an option for individuals to exercise control over their suffering and dignity.
Voluntary euthanasia is the purposeful ending of another person's life at their request, in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in the 21st century, surrounding the idea of a right to die. Some forms of voluntary euthanasia are legal in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Spain.
Suicide is a crime in some parts of the world. However, while suicide has been decriminalized in many countries, the act is almost universally stigmatized and discouraged. In some contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived tyranny or injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures such as ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or today's Tibet Autonomous Region.
Freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Denmark are ensured by § 77 of the constitution:
Danish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights are some of the most extensive in the world. In 2023, ILGA-Europe ranked Denmark as the third most LGBTQ-supportive country in Europe. Polls consistently show that same-sex marriage support is nearly universal amongst the Danish population.
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BC.
Euthanasia in the Netherlands is regulated by the "Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act" which was passed in 2001 and took effect in 2002. It states that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are not punishable if the attending physician acts in accordance with criteria of due care. These criteria concern the patient's request, the patient's suffering, the information provided to the patient, the absence of reasonable alternatives, consultation of another physician and the applied method of ending life. To demonstrate their compliance, the Act requires physicians to consult another, independant colleague before the euthanasia and to send a report after the euthanasia to a review committee.
Involuntary euthanasia is illegal in all 50 states of the United States. Assisted suicide is legal in ten jurisdictions in the US: Washington, D.C. and the states of California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Maine, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Washington. The status of assisted suicide is disputed in Montana, though currently authorized per the Montana Supreme Court's ruling in Baxter v. Montana that "nothing in Montana Supreme Court precedent or Montana statutes [indicates] that physician aid in dying is against public policy."
The legality of euthanasia varies between countries and territories. Efforts to change government policies on euthanasia of humans in the 20th and 21st centuries have met with limited success in Western countries. Human euthanasia policies have also been developed by a variety of NGOs, most advocacy organisations although medical associations express a range of perspectives, and supporters of palliative care broadly oppose euthanasia.
Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in the United Kingdom and could be prosecuted as murder or manslaughter.
Active euthanasia is illegal in Switzerland, but supplying the means for dying is legal, as long as the action which directly causes death is performed by the one wishing to die. Assisted suicide in the country has been legal since 1941, and Switzerland was the first country in the world to permit any kind of assisted dying. In 2014, a total of 752 assisted suicides were performed, compared to 1,029 non-assisted suicides ; most of the assisted suicides concerned elderly people suffering from a terminal disease. In what critics have termed suicide tourism, Swiss euthanasia organisations have been widely used by foreigners. As of 2008, German citizens were 60 percent of the total number of suicides assisted by the organisation Dignitas.
Euthanasia in Canada in its legal voluntary form is called Medical Assistance in Dying and it first became legal along with assisted suicide in June 2016 for those whose death was reasonably foreseeable. Before this time, it was illegal as a form of culpable homicide. In March 2021, the law was further amended by Bill C-7 to include those suffering from a grievous and irremediable condition whose death was not reasonably foreseeable. The planned inclusion of people with mental illnesses is controversial and has been repeatedly delayed. The legality of this postponement to 2027 is being challenged in court.
In the United States, the law for murder varies by jurisdiction. In many US jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which first-degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second-degree murder and, in a few states, third-degree murder, which in other states is divided into voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter such as reckless homicide and negligent homicide, which are the least serious, and ending finally in justifiable homicide, which is not a crime. However, because there are at least 52 relevant jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this is a considerable simplification.
Lèse majesté in Norway was judicially based and defined in Norway's 1902 Penal Code, which provided fines or prison for this crime. Often related to political conflicts, accusations of lèse majesté were frequent in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and many cases resulted in execution. Virtually no legal actions have been taken after 1905. The last to be charged for lèse majesté was a man who attacked Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom with a tomato during her state visit in 1981. As of 2015, lèse majesté is no longer a criminal offence in Norway.
Manslaughter is a crime in the United States. Definitions can vary among jurisdictions, but manslaughter is invariably the act of causing the death of another person in a manner less culpable than murder. Three types of unlawful killings constitute manslaughter. First, there is voluntary manslaughter which is an intentional homicide committed in "sudden heat of passion" as the result of adequate provocation. Second, there is the form of involuntary manslaughter which is an unintentional homicide that was committed in a criminally negligent manner. Finally, there is the form of involuntary manslaughter which is an unintentional homicide that occurred during the commission or attempted commission of an unlawful act which does not amount to a felony.
Assisted suicide, while criminal does not appear to have caused any convictions. Although a person who has assisted with the suicide must appear in court, article 37 of the Penal Code states: "The judges are authorized to forego [sic] punishment of a person whose previous life has been honorable where he commits a homicide motivated by compassion, induced by repeated requests of the victim." Whilst not de jure permitting the act, it has been interpreted to mean that judges may pardon the defendant of their crime, and so de facto authorising assisted suicide.