Norway's Latest Problem.

By courageously and professional capturing Anders Behring Breivik alive the Norwegian police solved many of the problems created by last Friday's twin terrorist attacks. However by doing so they created another problem - what to do with him now?

Unlike the British or American legal systems which are still focused on allowing the state to extract revenge on the criminal the Norwegian legal system is much more liberal and forward thinking. They much more tend to see criminals as damaged people who need to be removed from society for a short while so they can be repaired. As a result they have prisons that would put many hotels to shame and incredibly low rates of re-offending but the maximum anyone can be sent to prison for - even for 76 counts of murder is around 20 years. The problem is that Breivik is not a normal criminal who has not committed a normal crime. So it is unlikely that he will ever be rehabilitated and will probably have to be removed from society for the rest of his natural life. This is not an option that is available to the Norwegian courts.

By way of a solution the prosecution have suggested that Breivik could instead be tried for crimes against humanity. This would actually work because while what Breivik has done doesn't fit the legal definition of "genocide" he most certainly could be tried for either "extermination" or "inhumane acts designed to inflict terror" and there's nothing that says that these offences must be committed by a member of a recognised military force during a time of war. In fact I believe they were written to say the exact opposite. The only problems are that the maximum sentence is still only 30 years meaning that Breivik would be released when he's 62 and it's still up for debate whether or not the Norwegian authorities could continue to question him once he's been charged.

An alternative solution proposed by the defence is that Breivik is found to be insane and committed to a mental institution rather then being put on trial and sent to prison. Although I'll need to check the specifics for the situation in Norway I suspect that this will keep him removed from society for the rest of his natural life and allow the authorities to question him for as long as they need too. The only problem is that although I haven't sat down and spoken to him I don't think that Breivik is insane as defined by Britain's M'Naughten rules of 1846 unless it is ruled that his political beliefs are a disease of the mind. I think that would be a very worrying precedent to set and not how Norway wants to respond to this atrocity.

The third solution proposed by me is that Breivik be declared a Prisoner of War (POW) which would remove him entirely from Norway's civilian legal system. This will allow the authorities to question him for as long as he is in detention and allow him to be detained until the war ends. As the war Breivik himself has declared is against the ideas of multiculturalism and Islam this pretty much guarantees that he won't ever be released from prison. The only problem is that I'm not sure if you can declare someone as a POW unless they have been identified as a member of a recognised armed force. However I'm sure you could declare him to be a non-uniformed combatant and then decide to treat him as a POW. The other problem is that by recognising Breivik as a legitimate soldier in a legitimate war there's a risk that he could become a martyr who encourages those who share his repellent beliefs. However only being entitled to occasional visits from the Red Cross/Crescent I think he'll be something of a silent martyr.

Anyway it's 20:34 on Tuesday July 26th. I'm back from the pub and everything is Ok although - as you may have noticed - I'm reading from a pre-prepared script.