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Maja Vestad

Lecturer - Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law

Email maja.vestad@jus.uio.no

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Visiting address Kristian Augusts gate 17 Domus Juridica 8.etg 0164 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 6706 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo

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Academic interests

Vestad's research interest center around the rule of law and technology, with a special emphasis on police investigations of crime, and the production of forensic evidence.

1. Traces of Crime

The PhD project “Traces of Crime: A study of evidence production in criminal justice" (2022-2026) was an exploration of the ways in which evidence of crime is managed at crime scenes, during transportation, in forensic laboratories, and in evidence storage facilities in Norway. In the project, Vestad examined how crime scene investigators and forensic scientists produce information about the past, with a special focus on DNA, which can also be used to speculate about the future. The findings were published in four open access journal articles. The project was part of Digital DNA.

2. The 25 June and 22 July terror attacks

Vestad co-leads the pilot project PRIDE25JUNE: RIPPLES, which investigates ripple effects of the 25 June 2022 terror attack in Oslo. The initiative is part of LAW22JULY: RIPPLES, and aims to contribute an overview and analysis of issues related to memorial work, urban security, legal participation and legal settlement after the 25 June attacks.

As part of LAW22JULY: RIPPLES, she investigates temporal 'micro-memorialisation' after the 22 July 2011 attack. The project is the main component in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo's initiative to commemorate 22 July.

Teaching

Supervises bachelor and master theses in criminology and the sociology of law (KRIM2101, KRIM5001, RSOS5001)
Innføring i kriminologi (KRIM1100)
Lovbrudd, lovbrytere og ofre (KRIM1500)
Rettssosiologi I (JUS4122)
Sentrale teoretiske perspektiver i rettssosiologi 2 (RSOS4102)
Sentrale teoretiske perspektiver i kriminologi (KRIM2000)
Kriminologi og rettssosiologi i praksis (KRS4210)

Background

Vestad holds a PhD in Criminology from the University of Oslo (2026), a Master’s degree in Criminology from the University of Oslo, and undergraduate degrees in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, and Anthropology, from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. She has previously held research assistant positions at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law and the Department of Public and International Law, University of Oslo.

Tags: Evidence, Digital criminology, DNA, Rural criminology, Criminology, Historical criminology

Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora & Vestad, Maja (2026). 22. juli husket nedenfra: overgangsrettferdighet og mikrominner som demokratisk politikk. In Lohne, Kjersti; Houge, Anette Bringedal; Liden, Kristoffer & Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora (Ed.), Etter 22. juli. Overgangsrettferdighet og terror. Cappelen Damm Forskning/NOASP. ISSN 9788202926151. p. 117–136. doi: 10.23865/cdf.289.ch6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
We live in a time of democratic backsliding in which the rise of authoritarian and populist regimes threatens the implementation of transitional justice measures and risks reversing past achievements. Impunity and denial render societies vulnerable to authoritarian nostalgia and the manipulation of unresolved conflicts. At the same time, public memory arenas – monuments, memorial sites, and institutions commemorating victims – are increasingly contested, becoming targets of protest, vandalism, and removal. The struggle over memory is thus also a struggle over the role and place of transitional justice. This chapter examines democratic resilience through the lens of memory. Starting from the relative vulnerability of top-down 22 July memory politics, in which the Norwegian state sets the terms and governs commemorative processes, the chapter explores the concept of “micro-memories” as a way of understanding the role and importance of memory work from below, done by survivors, affected individuals, and local communities. While official memorials tend to endure and invite ongoing collective interpretation, micro-memories are more ephemeral, personal, and dispersed. These include naming buildings or objects after victims, dedicating artistic works, establishing scholarships or solidarity initiatives, planting trees, or highly personal acts such as getting a tattoo. Together, they form a parallel commemorative landscape that is neither fully private nor fully public. Drawing on mapped examples, the chapter shows that memory work can be relational, diverse, and less institutionally bound, highlighting the importance of “resilient memories” that exist beyond state control.
Vestad, Maja (2025). From crime scenes to digital spaces: A mundane object’s journey through forensics. Nordic Journal of Science and Technology Studies. ISSN 1894-4647. 13(1), p. 71–80. doi: 10.5324/njsts.v13i1.5861. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Ordinary objects can assume exceptional significance when discovered at crime scenes, providing valuable information for investigations while also offering insights into the routines of daily life and human behaviour – aspects that may contrast with the extraordinary circumstance of the crime itself. In this article, I follow the forensic journey of one such mundane object – a sock – that does not fit the pattern of other evidence in an investigation. The article zooms in on the moments in which the sock transmutes from ordinary to forensically informative through technological interactions that capture, document, and encapsulate its meanings. I argue that in forensic contexts, meaningful information necessitates a transcendence from material to digital spaces, in which a singular object is represented as multiple entities. This shift presents a unique lens through which to observe and understand process of knowledge production in investigatory police work.
Vestad, Maja & Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora (2025). Et mikrominnekart etter 22. juli. Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (NNT). ISSN 0800-336X. 42(2), p. 104–119. doi: 10.18261/nnt.42.2.2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Det finnes mange minnesmerker etter 22. juli. Disse antar ulike former, finnes på ulike steder og har ulike funksjoner. Et viktig spørsmål som ikke har blitt diskutert i 22. juli-litteraturen, er hvordan vi kan forstå minnesmerker, steder og praksiser som var midlertidige og nå er borte. Som et slags svar på dette spørsmålet begynner vi i denne artikkelen å kartlegge det vi kaller «mikrominnelandskapet» etter 22. juli. Mens de offisielle minnestedene er kollektive – det er det lokale og nasjonale «vi» som skal minnes lokale og nasjonale ofre – så er mikrominnesmerkene personaliserte. Vi undersøker hvem som minnes, og spør hvordan man kan forstå de (minnene og menneskene) som glemmes. Mikrominnesmerkene bidrar til å gi en mer helhetlig forståelse av hendelsene som fant sted. De kan også gi en innsikt i individuelle erfaringer og følelser knyttet til terrorangrepet, som kan være verdifulle for å forstå hvordan samfunnet har bearbeidet traumene og sorgen etterpå.
Vestad, Maja (2025). Low-tech. In Kaufmann, Mareile & Lomell, Heidi Mork (Ed.), De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Criminology. De Gruyter Brill. ISSN 9783111061931. p. 323–331. doi: 10.1515/9783111062037-038. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
We should be careful of overstating the importance of technologies that inspire dramatic narratives. All digital tools and practices have material counterparts, and while some may be less flashy, shiny, and indeed less captivating, they are key players in the fields that we study. This chapter discusses how high- and low-tech operates in tandem and suggests that low-tech must be taken seriously in the development of digital criminological theory.
Vestad, Maja (2025). Every Object Needs a Place: Evidence Management, Access to Justice, and the Rule of law. Social and Legal Studies. ISSN 0964-6639. 0(0), p. 1–16. doi: 10.1177/09646639251363397. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Evidence management is integral to the rule of law, as it may enable or hinder future claims to justice. In response to public criticism over lost and degraded evidence, Norway is transitioning to relocate evidence from all serious crimes from across the nation to a single facility, designating it critical infrastructure. To consider what the transition reveals about the state's relationship to risks and vulnerabilities of evidence, I draw on empirical data from evidence storage facilities. I find that while the new enforcement of authority and order over evidence provides the state with tools to reclaim legitimacy over justice processes, key issues of the past remain unsolved, and the conditions that grant people access to justice remain largely unaffected. Furthermore, a shift in the temporality of evidence occurs, introducing uncertainty to the stored object, whereby the sense of closure that is so central to justice processes may be lost.
Foshaugen, Marina Hiller & Vestad, Maja (2024). Productive policing: Lessons from preventative police strategies in times of New Public Management. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. ISSN 1752-4512. 18. doi: 10.1093/police/paae108. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Police patrol work intersects the global trends of both crime prevention strategies and New Public Management (NPM). Based on a case study conducted among operative policing units in the Norwegian nighttime economy, we canvass lessons from environments in which the tensions that arise from reactive and proactive police strategies are particularly evident. The emphasis on measurable and quantifiable tasks in line with NPM principles, coupled with the pressures to perform according to an overall strategy of crime prevention, present challenges for proactive policing conducted at street-level. The practical implications of this strategic duality are discussed. We suggest that the notion of productive policing sits at the core of this tension as a way of producing both order and quantifiable outcomes.
Vestad, Maja (2024). The persistent attractions of low-tech: Challenging the efficiency paradigm of forensic technology. International Journal of Police Science and Management. ISSN 1461-3557. 26(2). doi: 10.1177/14613557241231164. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The promise of efficiency is a catalyst for technological development in forensic science and crime scene investigation practices. Crime scene investigators aim to locate and document every potential trace for evidence and investigate crime scenes as quickly, accurately and objectively as possible. This narrative suggests that performance leads the police to adopt new efficient technologies. But to what extent is this narrative reflective of actual practices? Through examining how crime scene investigators use existing technologies in practice, i.e. traditional or ‘low-tech’ methods and tools such as DNA detection dogs and manual documentation tools, this article shows that the use of low-tech persists even under the pressure to perform and achieve. The study finds that low-tech remains attractive as a less-restraining alternative to digital and high-tech solutions. It is also contrast to, integrated with or necessary in co-existence with high-tech for crime scene investigations practices to function. The study draws on fieldwork conducted at police stations in Norway, including interviews and participatory observation of investigations in practice, to discuss the persistent attractions of low-tech and what the implications are for research into policing and technology.
Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2023). Biology and Criminology: Data Practices and the Creation of Anatomic and Genomic Body ‘Types’. Critical Criminology. ISSN 1205-8629. doi: 10.1007/s10612-023-09732-6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The use of biometrics for the creation of visual ‘body types’ needs continued criminological engagement. This article discusses Lombroso’s practice of typing ‘born criminals’ vis-à-vis genomic phenotyping used to identify potential suspects. Both are prevalent examples of scientizing police and legal work. While Lombroso draws on anatomy to explain causes of criminal behavior, phenotyping is based on genomic and physiognomic correlation to help identify suspects. Despite these differences, both forms of visualizing bodies, we argue, are also a practice of marking. Especially in the context of crime and crime control, marking is a sensitive and political practice. Since typing is embedded in criminology, our analysis is also a critical engagement with criminology itself.
Vestad, Maja (2023). Norwegian Rural Vigilantism during COVID-19: Self-Protection against a Perceived Urban Threat. International Journal of Rural Criminology (IJRC). 7(2), p. 198–215. doi: 10.18061/ijrc.v7i2.8949. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
When private citizens mobilise to protect their local community against threats, the rationale is that the local government is unable or unwilling to do so, due to legal restrictions, a lack of organisational resources and capacity – or indifference and discrimination. While these practises are commonly theorised as vigilantism, this conceptual approach draws in large part on studies of urban parts of the United States, Latin/South America, and the Commonwealth countries. This corresponds to a parallel knowledge gap in rural criminology, where there is little knowledge of so-called peripheral areas in the global north as well as a dearth of theoretical conceptualisation about rural vigilantism, and few studies cover areas outside the Anglo-American context. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in 2020, this paper contributes to knowledge of vigilantism in the Nordics by providing a study on how Norwegian citizens mobilised to protect local communities from an urban pandemic threat, constituting a new form of rural vigilantism. Keywords: COVID-19, informal policing, high trust societies, social unrest, crisis communication, Norway
Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Mistenksomhetens spiral : Autoktoni og eskalasjonsmomenter i den norske hytteforbudkonflikten. Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab. ISSN 0029-1528. 108(3), p. 468–482. doi: 10.7146/ntfk.v108i3.129651. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
In March and April 2020, at the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Norwegian government prohibited overnight stays at secondary homes as an early measure to prevent the spread of the virus. Violations of the ban carried penalties of up to 6 months in prison. Popularly dubbed the Cabin Ban, the law catalysed national debate, and violations of the ban generated massive public interest. This article recounts local conflicts sparked by the ban in four Norwegian «cabin municipalities», as described by residents, local politicians and cabin owners. It identifies the notion of autochthony as a central tool in understanding why some chose to breach the ban, why local residents mobilised against cabin owners, and why the conflict escalated to the extent it did.

View all works in NVA

Vestad, Maja & Beisland, Sunniva Husevåg (2026). Idémyldring for bacheloroppgaven. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja & Milch, Nora (2025). Artist talk with Christa Barlinn Korvald. Full text in Research Archive
Kaufmann, Mareile; Vestad, Maja; Bakken, Silje Anderdal; Daechsel, Stefano Mazzilli; Winge, Vilde Bergmann & Neuhaus, Elisabeth (2025). Conference: Biodata, Surveillance and Society. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The conference 'Biodata, Surveillance and Society' will gather international scholars from the social sciences, law, humanities and the natural sciences who have an interest in exploring the landscape of biodata, surveillance and computation in a wide range of domains.
Vestad, Maja (2025). The Ideal Genetic Suspect. Full text in Research Archive
Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora & Vestad, Maja (2025). Uansett hva hensikten med angrepet var, ble målet det skeive utelivet. doi: https:/www.dagsavisen.no/debatt/uansett-hva-hensikten-med-angrepet-var-ble-malet-det-skeive-utelivet/9949845. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2025). Fra idé til ferdig masterprosjekt. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2025). «Elefanten i beslagsrommet». doi: https:/www.politiforum.no/meninger/elefanten-i-beslagsrommet/280838. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2025). Current developments for evidence management in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2025). Hvorfor står bordet på høykant? Ambulansepersonell på åsted. Full text in Research Archive
Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora & Vestad, Maja (2025). Commemorating the terrorist attack July 22, 2011: a memorial map from below. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja & Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora (2025). 14 år med sorg. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2025). From crime scenes to digital spaces. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2025). Bevismateriale og rettssikkerhet: utviklinger i politiets lagring av spor og beslag. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2025). Low-tech. Full text in Research Archive
Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2024). Scientizing Police Work: Biometric data practices and the creation of anatomic and genomic ‘body types’. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2024). The persistent attractions of low-tech: challenging the efficiency paradigm. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2024). Archives of Crime: Forensic DNA evidence production and criminological horizons. Full text in Research Archive
Foshaugen, Marina Hiller; Vestad, Maja & Boyle, Rose Elizabeth (2023). ‘A 5-star hotel, but hard to escape’: Online reviews of Norwegian prisons. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2023). Evaluating policing practice. Modern technologies in policing (chair). Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2023). Materiality and low-tech at the crime scene: interactions between the analogue and the digital. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja; Boyle, Rose Elizabeth & Foshaugen, Marina Hiller (2023). 5-star hotel, with terrible room service? A digital criminology of prisons featured in Google Maps’ reviews. Nordic Criminology Blog. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
https://www.nsfk.org/blog/5-star-hotel-with-terrible-room-service-a-digital-criminology-of-prisons-featured-in-google-maps-reviews/
Vestad, Maja (2023). Det kjennes annerledes å være skeiv i år. Jeg skal forklare hvorfor. Er trygghetens tid forbi? Full text in Research Archive Show summary
https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/rl39Ve/det-kjennes-annerledes-aa-vaere-skeiv-i-aar-jeg-skal-forklare-hvorfor
Vestad, Maja (2023). Mellom fortid og fremtid: DNA-bevis, teknologi, og kriminologiske horisonter. Bevis. ISSN 0803-3544. 34(1), p. 12–14. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2023). Teknologi i kriminalteknisk arbeid: vekslinger mellom det analoge og det digitale. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2023). Helena Machado and Rafaela Granja, Forensic Genetics in the Governance of Crime (London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 123 pp., £31.70 paperback. Human Remains and Violence: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 9(1), p. 113–115. doi: 10.7227/HRV.9.1.7. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2023). Queer Paradoxes after the Pride Terror Attack. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
https://blogs.prio.org/2023/06/queer-paradoxes-after-the-pride-terror-attack/
Vestad, Maja & Foshaugen, Marina Hiller (2022). Policing acute and crowded crime scenes: Confluences of proactive and reactive police work. Full text in Research Archive
Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2022). Blood stains, skulls & DNA – when evidence goes digital. Nordic Criminology Blog. Full text in Research Archive
Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2022). Visualizing Suspect Bodies. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja & Kaufmann, Mareile (2022). Measuring Suspect and Deviant Bodies: Science and technology in forensic biometrics. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2022). Hvem vokter vokterne? Hyttesak i Høyesterett. 14, p. 34–35. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
https://www.morgenbladet.no/ideer/debatt/2022/04/08/hvem-vokter-vokterne-hyttesak-i-hoyesterett/
Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2022). Measuring Bodies. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja & Kaufmann, Mareile (2022). Visualising Suspect Bodies: Science and technology in forensic biometrics. Full text in Research Archive
Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora; Ikdahl, Ingunn; Lohne, Kjersti; Vestad, Maja; Sørlie, Anniken & Moe-Pryce, Marit (2022). Law after July 22, 2011: Survivors, Memory and Reconstruction. PRIO Paper. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
While the criminal law and security governance aspects of the July 22 terror attack in Norway have been extensively analyzed in the academic literature, much less attention has been given to processes involving civil law, legal mobilization and legal-bureaucratic processes. The slow workings of the law mean that the aftermath of July 22 is still unfolding in different legal processes. This PRIO paper carves out a socio-legal research agenda intended to bridge the aforementioned knowledge gap. In so doing, it identifies various aspects of how the law deals with survivors, their families and the bereaved. It also addresses the legal debates over memorials and the reconstruction and securitization of the Norwegian Government Quarter. We argue that in choosing between extraordinary and ordinary legal mechanisms and instruments to deal with the terror attack, the state and the legal system have opted for the latter. This emphasis on “ordinary law” must be investigated. We are interested in how law distributes resources, rights and identities and sets limits on government interventions – and how individual actors and organizations mobilize the law to shape the political, popular and legal narratives around July 22.
Vestad, Maja (2022). «Hyttesaken» og pandemihåndteringens grenser. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
https://sosiologen.no/debatt-og-kronikk/debatt/hyttesaken-og-pandemihandteringens-grenser/
Vestad, Maja (2022). Norway’s COVID-19 Cabin Controversies: Powers, Privileges, and Plagues. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2022). Mala prohibita - Mala in se: Key Principles in Criminology. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Overrasket over at ikke flere har saksøkt staten. [Internet]. NRK. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Nordiska experterna om svenska skjutningarna: En hotbild. [Journal]. Aftonbladet. Full text in Research Archive
Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora & Vestad, Maja (2021). Transitional Justice and Contested Memorialization after Terror: The Norwegian 22 July Attacks. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja & Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora (2021). The nation as memorial cartography: mapping commemorative sites outside the canon. Full text in Research Archive
Vestad, Maja (2026). Traces of crime: A study of evidence production in criminal justice. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Forensic evidence is a foundational element of the rule of law. It is needed for future justice processes to occur and for crime to be proven in court. While legal and courtroom scholarship has attended to the ways in which evidence functions in criminal justice processes, there is little criminological insight into the evidentiary practices that precede and follow the courtroom setting. Prior to reaching a trial, and after an investigation has closed, evidence moves between forensic and investigatory actors and sites across what is termed the evidence chain. Across the evidence chain, forensic and investigatory actors work to collect, document, analyse, share, and store the physical trace materials of potential crimes. This project explores how evidence is produced and managed during and after a criminal investigation, and what the evidence chain can tell us about the state’s relationship to the traces of crime. In the Norwegian context, evidence production and management are currently undergoing substantial changes following public debate, and as such, this project devotes attention to the journey of traces in a particular political climate. Through field visits to 13 sites within the Norwegian evidence chain, and interviewing and observing crime scene investigators and forensic scientists at work, the thesis examines the trajectory of the forensic trace as it moves from crime scenes to police stations, through forensic laboratories, and into storage after case closure. The findings show how evidence comes into being through mundane forensic practices amidst developments in science and technology, how forensic and investigatory actors navigate evidence production in response to political pressure, and how changing evidence management practices break with the sense of finality that is so central to criminal justice processes. The findings have been published in four individual articles that can be read individually, but they are presented here in an order that follows the journey of the trace through the evidence chain. The first article examines investigators who document crime scene objects at a police lab. One object does not fit with the other material collected from the crime scene, and the article shows how investigators navigate a situation where the unremarkable and the extraordinary meet. The second article confronts an often-stated narrative of the technological evolution in forensics; that demands for fast and accurate performance determine which technology investigators and scientists use. Through an analysis of how investigators triangulate digital and analogue techniques, the article shows how integrated manual technologies are in evidence production efforts. Furthermore, it observes that investigators supplement complex technologies with simpler tools that enable them to retain a sense of deep knowledge of their activities – essentially broadening their forensic toolbox to retain professional and evidentiary integrity. The third article situates novel DNA technologies in a historical perspective to discuss the relationship between “typing” anatomical and genomic features and marking bodies as suspect for investigative purposes. While typing makes bodies actionable for law enforcement, they rely on speculative predictions, and the article argues for a critical and historical awareness of how new scientific endeavours influence law enforcement. The fourth article examines evidence management after case closure, focusing on Norway’s recent efforts to centralise all evidence of serious crimes in a single centralised facility. Centralisation offers a form of control that cannot be offered by local police stations; however, it also illustrates a changing relationship between the state and the objects of crime that I argue challenges the notion of case closure in criminal justice. The thesis thus identifies how closely material objects are tied to state authority over justice matters – an argument that is expanded upon in the extended introduction to the thesis.

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Published Aug. 19, 2021 3:00 PM - Last modified Sep. 15, 2026 12:55 PM

Projects

Research groups

Research group on the Sociology of Law