I was sceptical about the turns-himself-in part. But in norway... yeah, plausible.

(I only know norway as a tourist, but I'm there pretty often - once or twice a year)

-Trondheim is a small-ish town of some 165,000 citizens or so; the police know most of the small-time offenders well enough that him failing to show up would probably end up being more of a nuisance for him than actually turning himself in.

Besides, whether you are sentenced for twelve or thirteen counts of burglary doesn't matter one iota for the sentence you're given - we don't do consecutive sentencing here.

yeah, but most criminals aren't very smart. With german law it's the similiar but only when you do the stuff in one got ("in Tateinheit") - then you're only sentenced for worst thing you did, not everything.

As a sidenote: do you know any english or german language sources about the norwegian (or nordish) legal system? I'm interested in how it differs from napoleonic and germanic systems, because it's often considered to be different but explanations are rare.

While the judge might use Tateinheit to chose the sentence on the "worst" crime, the other things are not ignored but impact where on the range the sentence will be. For many offenses there is quite a range.

The textbook idea of that Tateinheit Thing is that if somebody i.e. robs a house the punishment for the damage to the door is neglectable over the punishment for robbery. (While this is about criminal punishment - the house owner can still request a replacement for the door using a civil case)

yes. I left out the details...

Not doing consecutive sentencing seems like it would introduce a moral hazard wherein the criminal feels free to commit lesser crimes than their worst crime in a crime spree (e.g. if he robbed someone at gunpoint, then breaking into houses should be done without fear of additional penalty and only avoided bc it increases the likelihood of being caught).

Of course, my above statement assumes some rationality on the part of the criminal (and econ of crime analysis by Gary Becker, which presumes as such, has been mostly debunked -- most criminals aren't rational)

> assumes some rationality on the part of the criminal

My somewhat minimal experience with criminals is that part of their brain doesn't work very well.

I imagine turning yourself in for even a felony is not as life-shattering in Norway as it is in America. Considering the number of people who die in jail awaiting trial for misdemeanors, let alone those who lose their jobs or have their property confiscated via civil forfeiture, you might be better off just heading for a border if the police even think you've done something.

Yup. One of the windows to the stairwell on the left (towards the park) when you're standing behind it, if you are a local.

Geez, I'm somehow a local now. I've never even been inside the building, but to bus stops around it, and know the park you speak of. Do know a dude that plays jazz (?) there occasionally, though.

Thanks for the accidentally making this immigrant happy :)