Information for defendants

If the police investigation leads to the issue of charges, the accused person is obliged to appear in court and answer for the charges. When a criminal case has been received by the district court from the prosecution, the judge shall issue a summons to the defendant stating where and when the case will be registered in court.

Guilt admitted or denied

When a criminal case is registered in the district court, the indictment is presented to the defendant and he is asked whether he or she confesses or denies guilt according to what the indictment says. The defendant may have a period of time within which to acquaint himself with the indictment and take a position on the person he or she is accused of in the indictment. If the accused person does not appear in court, he or she can expect the police to retrieve him or her and go to court.

Absence of the defendant

In exceptional circumstances, judgment may be delivered on a case, even if the defendant has not appeared before the court. It is permitted if the defendant does not have lawful prejudice and it has been stated in the summons that the case may be judged in absentia in cases where the offence is considered to be of no more than six months' imprisonment, confiscation of property and deprivation of rights, and also in cases where the defendant has appeared in court during the investigation of the case and expressly confessed.

Main hearing

If the defendant refuses to be guilty, it is subsequently decided when the so-called primary treatment will take place. The defendant must be appointed as a defence counsel if the case is to be heard unless the defendant wishes to plead his or her own case.

Statement from the defendant

When the main treatment is carried out, the defendant first gives a statement. The defendant is not obliged to answer questions regarding the punishable behaviour he or she is accused of and has the right to refuse to give evidence concerning the subject of the charge in any way.

Hearings in court are similar to police questioning, but there are more people present in the courtroom. The courtroom is equipped with a judge present, or judges present, as prosecutor, defence counsel and legal counsel in cases where the injured party has had a legal counsel appointed, and sometimes even more when there are open court sessions. The person who is presenting his or her statements in court shall sit in a seat in front of the judge. On the left side of the court, as seen from the person giving the report, sits the prosecutor and possibly the legal counsel, while on the right the defence counsel and also the defendant sit when he or she is not giving the statement.

It is the prosecutor who asks questions first, but after he or she has asked the defendant, the defence counsel asks the defendant questions, and sometimes the judge asks the defendant questions also.

The defendant has the right to sit and hear other witnesses' testimony, but in practice the defendant is often required to give way when the victims in sexual offence cases give evidence. After the defendant is heard, it is the case witnesses who appear before the court one at a time to give evidence. Just as when the defendant is questioned, it is the prosecutor who first asks them questions about the circumstances of the case.

The exception to this is the witnesses who appear before the court specifically by the defendant, at which point the defence counsel begins to ask questions and the prosecutor can then ask questions once the defence counsel has completed the statement.

Oral pleading

After the hearing, oral pleading takes place, at which point the prosecutor will speak first and then defend the case. In cases where the chief legal officer is present at the hearing on behalf of the victim, the legal counsellor shall give a speech after the prosecutor. After the pleading, the case is accepted for judgment, but the judge has 4 weeks to deliver his judgment in the case.

As a general rule, the public may attend court if people are interested in monitoring the handling of criminal cases in court. The exception to this rule concerns particularly sensitive cases such as sexual offences and cases of intimate partner violence, in which case the procedure is closed to the public and the media for the protection of the persons concerned.

Conviction in court

The handling of cases in which the defendant confesses is only different from that in which the defendant denies guilt. It is not usually considered necessary to take statements from witnesses and not to discuss the evidence of the case in particular. The prosecutor and the defence counsel shall in their pleadings discuss first and foremost what punishment should be given for the offence that has been admitted. The whole procedure is therefore shorter and in certain cases judgment is delivered immediately afterwards. It is assumed that the defendant's confession affects what the sentence is in the case, that the accused person enjoys easily confessing to the offence in court.

Judgement

Judgement is a written decision by a court on the substance of a particular case, which contains grounds and words of judgment. Judgment shall be binding for the defendant, the prosecution and others on the substances judged there.