Norway's police oversight body, Spesialenheten, has closed its investigation into whether a police employee improperly passed information about a violence incident to the royal household ahead of the arrest of Marius Høiby on 4 August 2024. The agency announced the decision in a press release on Thursday, according to VG.
Spesialenheten opened the inquiry after it emerged that someone employed by the police was said to have told the court about the incident before Høiby was taken into custody. The agency states that this contact happened before the police employee knew an arrest had been decided on.
Why it matters
The case touches on the boundary between police duties and the royal household, and on how far information about a sensitive criminal matter travelled inside government before an arrest became public. Spesialenheten's conclusion closes one line of inquiry but leaves questions about communication between the Ministry of Justice and the royal court, which the agency says falls outside its remit.
No breach of confidentiality found
Spesialenheten concluded that the information was not shared in violation of the duty of confidentiality, because the notification was given on security grounds. The agency also found that it had not been proven that police employees committed any criminal offence, and it has therefore shelved the case.
According to VG, the investigation nonetheless uncovered that word of the impending arrest was circulated widely within the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness (JD) and to the Office of the Prime Minister.
Dialogue between ministry and royal court
In its press release, Spesialenheten writes that the investigation established there was dialogue between the Ministry of Justice and the royal court, and that this exchange took place before Høiby was arrested. The agency says it found no basis for further examination of that contact, explaining that its mandate is limited to the official actions of the police.
The agency's announcement does not describe the content of that dialogue or identify who took part in it.
What to watch: whether other bodies choose to look into the ministry's communications with the royal household, a question Spesialenheten has explicitly left untouched.
