Modern Use
By 1815 the most inhumane forms of execution were abolished, and decapitation or shooting were the remaining authorised methods. Capital crimes were premeditated or otherwise heinous murders as well as treason.
During the nazi occupation of Norway, capital punishment was in September 1942 introduced by Vidkun Quisling's regime, and the first of a total of nineteen executions was carried out on 16 August 1943, when Gunnar Eilifsen was executed for disobedience. Before this, German law had applied, and four hundred Norwegians had already been executed. In 1941, the Cabinet Nygaardsvold exiled in London allowed for the death penalty after the war, and expanded its scope in 1942 to cover torture and murder. The legal purge that followed the occupation, resulted in several death sentences, of which 37 persons, whereof 25 Norwegians and 12 Germans, were executed. The last execution took place on 27 August 1948, when Ragnar Skancke was put before a firing squad at Akershus Fortress.
Read more about this topic: Capital Punishment In Norway, History
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