Janne Kristiansen (born 21 November 1952) is a Norwegian jurist. She was the first head of the
Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is the statutory body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It was established by Section 8 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and bega ...
from 2004 to 2009.
and head of the
Norwegian Police Security Service
The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001.
History a ...
(PST) from 2009 to 2012, a position from which she resigned following a heavily politicized
scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
.
Career
Born in
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
, Janne Kristiansen graduated
cand. jur. from the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
in 1979 and worked for a number of years as a high-profiled defence attorney. She was the head of
Forsvarergruppen av 1977 (a group of defence lawyers working to promote the principles of the
Rechtsstaat
''Rechtsstaat'' (lit. "state of law"; "legal state") is a doctrine in continental European legal thinking, originating in Dutch and German jurisprudence. It can be translated into English as "rule of law", alternatively "legal state", state of ...
and
rule of law) between 1985 and 1990. Kristiansen worked as a public
defender in
Borgarting Court of Appeal
The Borgarting Court of Appeal ( no, Borgarting lagmannsrett) is one of six intermediate courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Oslo. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Oslo and western Viken. ...
from 1986 and in
Moss District Court
Moss District Court ( no, Moss tingrett) is a district court located in Moss, Norway. It covers the municipalities of Moss, Rygge, Råde and Våler and is subordinate Borgarting Court of Appeal
The Borgarting Court of Appeal ( no, Borgarting ...
from 1990.
Janne Kristiansen has participated in the making of several
Norwegian Official Report A Norwegian Official Report ( no, Norges offentlige utredninger, NOU) is a report published by a panel or committee appointed by the Norwegian government. The Norwegian Parliament
The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the su ...
s, such as NOU 2003.18 on
national security and NOU 2003.21 on "Crime fighting and privacy - the police and public prosecutors' processing of information".
As head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission between 2004 and 2009 she oversaw the decisions on the applications to appeal the criminal trials of
Fredrik Fasting Torgersen and
Arne Treholt
Arne Treholt (born 13 December 1942) is a Norwegian-born, Russia-based convicted felon and former KGB agent who was convicted of treason and espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union against Norway during the Cold War and sentenced to 20 years in ...
.
![PST legger frem pen trusselvurdering (4367830696)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/PST_legger_frem_pen_trusselvurdering_%284367830696%29.jpg)
She was appointed to the position as director of the
Norwegian Police Security Service
The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001.
History a ...
on 25 September 2009. There were three other applicants, and Minister of Justice
Knut Storberget
Knut Storberget (born 6 October 1964) is a Norwegian lawyer and politician for the Labour Party. He is currently serving as the county governor of Innlandet since 2019. He previously served as Minister of Justice under Jens Stoltenberg from 2005 ...
had specifically asked her to apply. In the period between her appointment and her accession in November,
Roger Berg was acting director. As head of the PST Kristiansen was juxtaposed with the director of the
National Police Directorate
National Police Directorate ( no, Politidirektoratet) a government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security which heads the Norwegian Police Service
The Norwegian Police Service ( no, Politi- og lensmannsetaten) is t ...
as one of the two top leaders of the
Norwegian Police Service
The Norwegian Police Service ( no, Politi- og lensmannsetaten) is the Norwegian national civilian police agency. The service dates to the 13th century when the first sheriffs were appointed, and the current structure established in 2003. It c ...
. During her time as head of the PST she oversaw the arrests of three men with residencies in Norway suspected of planning a terror attack on the Danish newspaper ''
Jyllands-Posten
''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to ''Jyllands-Posten'' or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circula ...
''. In addition the
terror attacks on the government quarters and Utøya on 22 July 2011 happened during her PST leadership.
She resigned as director on 18 January 2012, after accidentally revealing Norwegian intelligence assets in Pakistan, with her deputy Roger Berg succeeding her as acting leader.
Forced resignation as head of PST
Janne Kristiansen resigned as PST leader on 18 January 2012 following an
open hearing of the parliament's
22 July Committee (not to be confused with the
22 July Commission) that same day where she had been summoned to answer questions about Norwegian security and intelligence work. This unfolded after she had answered a direct question from Member of Parliament
Akhtar Chaudhry (
Socialist Left Party) during the parliament's (Storting) questioning of her. The question was whether Norway has cooperation with
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
in the intelligence arena, and Kristiansen's reply was interpreted as a confirmation that the
Norwegian Intelligence Service
The Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) or Etterretningstjenesten (E-tjenesten) is a Norwegian military intelligence agency under the Chief of Defence and the Ministry of Defence.
History
Olav Njølstad says that the "stay-behind cooperation ...
(military intelligence) had in fact a presence in that country. Both the two major news agencies in Norway, however, have written that representatives from the
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces ( no, Forsvaret, , The Defence) is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal ...
have confirmed the presence of the Intelligence Service abroad on a number of previous occasions. This would make it uncertain whether confidential information was revealed during the hearing. In March 2012 police investigations of Kristiansen were dropped by the
Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristiansen, Janne
1952 births
Living people
Lawyers from Oslo
Directors of government agencies of Norway
University of Oslo alumni
Police officers from Oslo
Norwegian Police Security Service directors
Norwegian women lawyers