Alternatives for enforcing sentences

– Although it is the courts that decide criminal cases, it is largely up to the Correctional Service to determine the actual content of the sentence, explains Associate Professor Henriette Tøssebro.

Tøssebro recently gave a presentation at the annual Criminal Law Conference in Rogaland to around 100 participants from the courts, law firms, the police and prosecution authorities, and the Correctional Service. The theme of the lecture was different alternatives for the enforcement of sentences. She was invited as project manager for the new research project EX-PUN, which will explore the legal challenges of enforcing sentences.

Among the topics she addressed was the relationship between the courts and the administration in matters of punishment. Tøssebro pointed out that the correctional services are an actor with far-reaching powers, without this having received much academic attention.

– For example, the correctional services decide on matters such as parole, electronic tagging, or whether a convicted person can perform community service instead of a subsidiary prison sentence. This means that several of the issues that matter most to those who are punished today are resolved in an administrative law context and according to administrative law rules, Tøssebro points out.

Tøssebro believes that the consequences of this have been little explored, and that there is therefore a great need for administrative law research on punishment and the enforcement of sentences. She hopes that EX-PUN, which will start in the spring of 2025, can contribute to meeting the need for knowledge in this field.