Hanna Buer Haddeland

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2026). Helsetjenestens oppfølging etter terrorangrep i et rettslig perspektiv. In Ikdahl, Ingunn; Laugerud, Solveig & Sørlie, Anniken (Ed.), Etter 22. juli. Rettferdighet og velferd. Cappelen Damm Forskning/NOASP. ISSN 9788202914974. p. 119–138. doi: 10.23865/cdf.290.ch6. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter examines the legal framework for psychosocial follow-up after terrorism, focusing on the responsibilities of municipal health and care services in the aftermath of the 22 July 2011 attacks in Norway. The analysis combines doctrinal study of health law with empirical insights from research on the post-attack response, including reports, interviews, and studies of experiences within the health services. It identifies three factors that contributed to inequalities in municipal follow-up during the first year after the attacks: strong local self-government, the absence in 2011 of a clearly specified legal duty to ensure psychosocial follow-up after crises, and the lack of a statutory requirement for psychological expertise in municipalities. The chapter argues that subsequent legal reforms have addressed the latter two issues, one of them directly as a result of 22 July, whereas local autonomy continues to permit considerable variation in practice. It concludes by discussing the potential and limits of a disaster registry as a tool for improving proactive psychosocial care after future crises.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2026). Bistandsadvokater for de rammede etter 22. juli: Hvem fikk bistandsadvokat, og hvilken rolle spilte de? In Ikdahl, Ingunn; Laugerud, Solveig & Sørlie, Anniken (Ed.), Etter 22. juli. Rettferdighet og velferd. Cappelen Damm Forskning/NOASP. ISSN 9788202914974. p. 51–73. doi: 10.23865/cdf.290.ch3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter analyses the legal framework and practical operation of the Norwegian victim counsel scheme (bistandsadvokatordningen) in the aftermath of the 22 July 2011 terrorist attacks. It examines who was granted victim counsel and who fell outside the scheme, as well as the legal and practical content of counsel’s mandate, with particular attention to tasks that proved especially important in the 22 July proceedings. The chapter is based on doctrinal analysis of criminal procedure law, case law, and related legal sources, and is supplemented by qualitative interviews conducted in 2023 with victims from Utøya and the Government Quarter. It argues that 22 July exposed structural weaknesses in the scheme when many people are affected simultaneously, particularly regarding the boundaries of entitlement, the scope of counsel’s assignment, and the relationship between legal assistance and broader needs for guidance and support. A central issue is the role victim counsel played in assisting claims for criminal injuries compensation, and how later reforms have narrowed that role after the criminal proceedings have ended. While subsequent legal changes have improved the system’s capacity to respond to mass-casualty violence, important challenges remain concerning equal access, expectations, and the delineation of victim-counsel’s responsibilities.

• Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora & Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2026). Rettsoppgjøret etter 22. juli: mer enn en strafferettslig fortelling. 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. 27–53. doi: 10.23865/cdf.289.ch2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Taking the central role of law and legal proceedings in transitional justice processes as the point of departure, this chapter develops a more complex account of the legal response and pursuit of justice following the 2011 terrorist attacks. The 2012 criminal trial against the 22 July perpetrator marked the beginning, rather than the endpoint, of this process. Subsequent legal developments form a broader narrative in which legal mobilisation becomes integral to postterror recovery. Drawing on socio-legal studies and legal mobilisation theory to analyse these processes, the chapter introduces the concept “composite legal mobilisation”, distinguishing between mobilisation aimed at settling discrete disputes, serving performative functions, supporting victim recognition, and pursuing strategic objectives. The chapter examines a range of cases, including the perpetrator's legal challenges concerning prison conditions and sentencing, political and economic disputes surrounding the reconstruction of the Government Quarter, controversies surrounding the establishment of a national memorial, and mobilisation on behalf of survivors and affected individuals, particularly regarding compensation and access to victim counsel. By considering these legal processes together – across differing constellations of parties, arenas, and claims – the chapter offers new insights into how courts and legal institutions shape understandings of justice after terrorism, and what it means for Norwegian society that such processes remain ongoing and open-ended.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2025). Betydningen av advokatbistand for tilgang til voldserstatning. Lov og Rett. ISSN 0024-6980. 64(4), p. 227–252. doi: 10.18261/lor.64.4.3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Ny voldserstatningslov og samtidige endringer i straffeprosessloven og rettshjelploven innskrenker mulighetene for dekning av advokatbistand ved voldserstatningssøknad. Artikkelen analyserer innstramningene i lys av 44 intervjuer med rammede etter 22. juli og med bistandsadvokater. Funnene tilsier at advokatbistand er nødvendig ved komplekse krav etter voldserstatningsloven §§ 7 og 8 når hele eller deler av krav tilknyttet voldshandlingen ikke er avgjort ved dom. Ny lov dekker advokatbistand dersom sakens kompleksitet tilsier det, men åpner ikke for forhåndsutsagn om dekning, og rammer dermed voldsutsatte med sammensatte skader uten økonomi til å bære risiko for eventuell dekning. Videre viser funnene variasjon i bistandsadvokatenes kompetanse og oppfølging av krav om mer kompliserte økonomiske tap og menerstatning etter 22. juli. Vilkårene for tilleggserstatning i § 8 kan øke betydningen av personskadekompetanse og oppfølging fra bistandsadvokat eller påtalemyndigheten, fordi voldsutsatte mister rett til voldserstatning fra staten dersom modne krav ikke fremmes i forbindelse med straffesaken.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer & Rabe, Thea Næs (2025). Facilitators of Irregular Migrants’ Stay and Border Crossings in Europe: Legal Consciousness, Motivations, and Rationalisations. European Journal of Migration and Law. ISSN 1388-364X. 27(2-3), p. 125–151. doi: 10.1163/15718166-12340202. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The EU Facilitation Directive – and the 2023 Commission proposal of its replacement – calls for criminalising the facilitation of irregular migration. Based on qualitative interviews and legal analysis, this article demonstrates how individuals who provide illegalised assistance to irregular migrants experience a divergence between the law and their moral views, shaped by their encounters with asylum seekers and by social ties on online forums. They defend their unlawful actions by citing their humanitarian obligation to preserve lives, drawing parallels to historical memories of World War II and the belief that helping others does not inflict harm. These justifications can be translated into legal rationales: foundations of the Refugee Convention, personal interpretations of the non-refoulement principle and of the humanitarian exception from criminal liability, and the harm principle. This highlights an ambiguity within migration and asylum law and reveals the need for a nuanced understanding of justice in immigration, balancing legal responsibilities with humanitarian motivations.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2024). Victims of Terrorism: The Interplay Between the Right to Compensation and the Risk of Secondary Victimization. European Public Law. ISSN 1354-3725. 30(4), p. 357–384. doi: 10.54648/EURO2024011. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Victims of terrorism have the right to compensation under European law, but recent EU reports indicate that many experience secondary victimization during the application process. This article examines the interplay between the obligation to provide compensation and preventing secondary victimization during the application process for victims of terrorism through an analysis of European law and empirical evidence. Using compensation to victims of the terror attacks on 22 July 2011 in Norway as a case study, the article demonstrates how and why legal compensation procedures can cause secondary victimization. It suggests that merging legal instruments on the right to state compensation with instruments on victims’ rights to information, support, and protection could clarify the interconnection between the obligation to provide compensation and the responsibility of preventing secondary victimization for victims of terrorism and other vulnerable victims.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2023). Ny voldserstatningslov og fremtidige terrorofre. Tidsskrift for erstatningsrett, forsikringsrett og trygderett. ISSN 2464-336X. 20(3-4), p. 147–175. doi: 10.18261/teft.20.3.3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Artikkelen diskuterer hvordan ny voldserstatningslov endrer rettsstillingen til terrorofre, i lys av erfaringene med anvendelsen av den tidligere voldsoffererstatningsloven etter 22. juli 2011. Retten til voldserstatning skal nå vurderes ut ifra skadevolders ansvar etter erstatningsrettslige prinsipper. Dermed fravikes de objektive kriteriene for grensen av statens ansvar (HR-2017-352), hvilket kan utvide kretsen berettiget til voldserstatning som direkte skadelidt i «tredjemannssaker». Etterlattes erstatningsvern innskrenkes derimot noe. Ny lov gir økt forutsigbarhet når erstatning avklares i straffesaken. Straffesaken knyttet til et terrorangrep vil imidlertid trolig være så omfattende at domstolene ikke tar stilling til erstatningskravene, jf. unntakene i straffeprosessloven. Berørte må da søke erstatning fra Kontoret for voldsoffererstatning, hvor skadevolder gis partsrettigheter. Ny lov innskrenker samlet sett det erstatningsrettslige vernet for berørte etter en terrorhendelse, og ville trolig skapt utfordringer dersom den skulle vært anvendt etter terrorangrepene 22. juli 2011.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2021). ‘Victims not wrongdoers’: the legal consciousness of rejected asylum seekers in Norway. Journal of law and society (Print). ISSN 0263-323X. 48, p. 645–668. doi: 10.1111/jols.12327. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Drawing on in-depth interviews, observation, and legal sources, this article examines how rejected asylum seekers experience their status and the legal regulations related to it, and how they react as a result. Their legal consciousness must be understood in the light of their illegal status, which makes them keenly aware that legal regulations and power structures decisively affect their everyday lives. They are ‘outside the law’ yet struggling to become insiders. While they all use legal services in their individual struggles, their engagement in collective counter-hegemonic struggles is greatly affected by social relations, networks, and culture. Honneth’s theory of recognition is used to expand the narrative of ‘dissenting collectivism’ within legal consciousness scholarship and capture the collective resistance of the marginalized. Unlike studies portraying these migrants as fearful of any involvement with the authorities, this article demonstrates that individual experiences of injustice and violated expectations of recognition can lead to collective resistance and mobilization.

• Rabe, Thea Næs & Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2021). Diverging interpretations of humanitarian exceptions: assisting rejected asylum seekers in Norway. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. ISSN 1369-183X. 29(7), p. 1630–1647. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1965469. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study explores the tension between regulations aimed at hindering the mobility of irregular migrants in Europe and the individuals who identify with humanitarian ideals and assist rejected asylum seekers. Drawing on legal document analysis and qualitative interviews with individuals who have supported rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan, this study analyses how the term ‘humanitarian assistance’ is interpreted both legally and socially in the Norwegian context. Although Norway has implemented a humanitarian exception from criminal liability for humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants, the concept of humanitarian assistance is narrowly interpreted as life-saving assistance provided by publicly known formal organisations. This is in contrast with the broader understanding of humanitarian assistance maintained by the respondents, who understand the term as support beyond mere physical survival and which includes upholding human rights. It is shown that even though respondents align themselves with international human rights and humanitarian motives, they might still be prosecuted by the EU and national legislation. It is argued that the criminalisation of acts that are commonly deemed as morally right and humanitarian challenges fundamental principles of the use of punishment as a tool to prohibit harm in society.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer & Franko, Katja (2021). Between legality and legitimacy: The courtroom as a site of resistance in the criminalization of migration. Punishment & Society. ISSN 1462-4745. doi: 10.1177/1462474521996815. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The criminalization of migration-related acts, rather than simply strengthening state authority, also represents a risk of exposing legal legitimacy deficits. By drawing on juridical analysis of court judgements, legal documents, and case law, together with ethnographic observation in court and analysis of media coverage, the article argues for acknowledging the extra-legal aspects of criminalization. By employing the concept of legal consciousness, we bring attention to how bordering processes are challenged from below by using the courtroom to expose potential legitimacy deficits concerning crimmigration enforcement. The article shows how the courtroom is not merely a place for convictions but also a site for resistance and social mobilization: a platform that may give marginalized groups voice and visibility, invoking a complex picture of state power, involving the ability to use force as well as reluctance and ambivalence connected to the questionable legitimacy of criminalization strategies.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2020). Termen «ulovlig» brukt om opphold i utlendingsretten: Kritikk og alternativer. Retfærd: Nordic Journal of Law and Justice. ISSN 0105-1121. p. 29–46. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Termen «ulovlig» brukt om opphold i utlendingsretten kritiseres ofte. Organisasjoner, aktivister og akademikere innvender at ordet gir assosiasjoner til kriminalitet, bidrar til stigmatisering, samt at ingen mennesker kan være ulovlige. Kritikken inneholder argumenter av formal, empirisk, sammensatt og normativ karakter. Ulike kritikklinjer kan assosieres med alternative termer for personer uten oppholdsrett. Artikkelen analyserer kritikken i lys av rettskilder og språkteori, og vurderer de alternative termene. Manglende anerkjennelse av faktisk tilknytning harmoniserer ikke alltid med termens referanse. Fordi utlendingsretten regulerer et sosialt felt, skapes spenninger mellom rettens normative og sosiale side, og kritikk av ordet «ulovlig» sin kontekst, legitimitet og etiske ramme

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2020). The Right to Health Care for Irregular Migrants in Norway: Interpretation, Accessibility, and Gaps Between Needs and Rights. Nordic Journal of Human Rights. ISSN 1891-8131. 37(4), p. 329–349. doi: 10.1080/18918131.2020.1731970. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Based on legal interpretation, interviews with rejected asylum seekers, and decisions from hospitals and the County Governor, this article examines the degree of compliance with the human right to health care for adult irregular migrants in Norway. The findings indicate that a certain minimum of health care services is accessible for most. However, economic concern represents a heavy burden. Fear of deportation, often considered a barrier to health care in earlier studies, represents a problem for those who evade deportation and lack information about health-care providers’ duty of confidentiality. Unclear legislation leads to uncertainty among health personnel. This uncertainty produces, in some cases, an arbitrary practice. The article suggests that the most serious gaps between health-care needs, national legislation, and international human rights obligations appear to exist concerning the lack of rehabilitation rights after surgery, the lack of health care for patients suffering from serious mental health issues, and the high threshold for treatment of chronic diseases.

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• Haddeland, Hanna Buer & Ikdahl, Ingunn (2024). The temporalities of welfare law’s responses to victims of terrorism. Full text in Research Archive
• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2024). Velferdsstatens oppfølging av rammede etter terrorangrep: Voldserstatning og bistandsadvokat - 22/11 til 25/6. Full text in Research Archive
• Haddeland, Hanna Buer & Ikdahl, Ingunn (2024). Reconfiguring the welfare state: Norwegian responses to terror victims 2011-2024. Full text in Research Archive
• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2023). Paneldebatt om utvisning og straff. Full text in Research Archive
• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2023). Compensation to Victims of Terrorism: the case of Norway after the 2011 terror attacks. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Victims of terrorism have the right to compensation and reparation under European law. However, recent reports have shown that many victims in Europe experience secondary victimisation during the compensation application process. After the 2011 terror attack in Norway, the government relied on existing legislation to provide compensation to victims, although a standardized financial redress for the different groups of victims was implemented. Drawing on interviews with victims of the attack and legal analysis, I show how the standardised redress was experienced as a relief among the informants. However, applying for compensation for financial loss carried a risk of secondary victimisation due to the complicated application processes and the risk of being rejected for such compensation.

• Haddeland, Hanna Buer & Rabe, Thea Næs (2023). Moral over the Law: assisting rejected asylum seekers in Europe. Full text in Research Archive
• Rabe, Thea Næs & Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2021). Når er det kriminelt å hjelpe? Full text in Research Archive
• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2020). Økosorg- og sinne i et rettslig perspektiv, Det går til helvete. Eller? Om kjærlighet, sorg og raseri i natur- og klimakrisens tid.. Dinamo Forlag. ISSN 9788280713353. Full text in Research Archive
• Haddeland, Hanna Buer & Kolmannskog, Vikram (2016). Fattig, uten rett til familie. Full text in Research Archive
• Haddeland, Hanna Buer (2021). Rejected asylum seekers, legal consciousness, and access to rights. OsloMet - storbyuniversitetet. ISSN 9788283643572. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Drawing on in-depth interviews with 29 rejected asylum seekers, court observation, and analysis of administrative health decisions and legal sources, this dissertation examines how rejected asylum seekers experience and behave in relation to their legal status and related legal rules, the extent of their access to the right to health care, and whether they mobilize for greater recognition. The sociolegal design of this thesis is novel in the study of irregular migration in Norway and is suitable for studying the relationship between the law and social conditions, including access to rights and potential gaps between rights, needs, and access to health care. The thesis examines access to rights in light of the threat of punishment and coercive mechanisms. It uses the theoretical concept of legal consciousness to analyze rejected asylum seekers’ understanding and experience of the law and the extent of their access to rights. Theoretically, this thesis is situated at the intersection of various scholarly debates and research domains. The findings on irregular migrants’ access to health services in Norway contribute to the field of social policy. The lack of a right to treatment of serious mental health issues, the lack of rehabilitation rights post emergency treatment, and the narrow interpretation in theory and practice of the term “absolutely necessary” health care might cause situations that could potentially raise issues under the European Convention on Human Rights, Articles 2 and 3, and the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, Article 12 (Paper I). The findings show that unclear regulations—primarily related to payment for health care and the term “absolutely necessary” health care—result in different practices among health institutions so that some receive less and others receive more health care than the law dictates. Procedures related to payment for health care vary from no invoicing to invoicing that corresponds to the rates paid by members of the National Insurance Scheme to invoicing for the total price of the treatment received. Economic access to health care must be understood in light of the lack of a right to work and to social benefits. Actual access to rights is also affected by language skills and whether one is de facto deportable (Paper IV). While fear of deportation may cause reluctance to seek public services, language skills can increase people’s awareness of their rights and empower them to confront erroneous rejection, which may result from unclear regulations (Papers I and IV). This thesis contributes theoretically to the concept of legal consciousness by demonstrating that social structures—social relations and available networks; awareness of civil rights; culture; and language skills—affected whether the study participants were engaged in collective forms of resistance and mobilization (Paper III). Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition is used to extend the dimension of “dissenting collectivism”—developed within the scholarship on legal consciousness—to capture the collective resistance of the marginalized. The thesis also makes a theoretical contribution to the scholarship on “crimmigration.” Like recent studies on the transformation of bordering processes from below by migrants and their allies, this thesis provides insights into the intricate dynamics between the power of the law, resistance, and the potential for social change (Papers II and III). It challenges the perception of criminalization as a seamless process (Paper II) and examines how actors can mobilize against increased “crimmigration” and challenge its legitimacy by uncovering discrepancies between penal power and core values such as human dignity and compassion (Paper II). The thesis demonstrates that although rejected asylum seekers are in many ways legally excluded, they constantly strive for recognition. All participants had availed of legal assistance after the Immigration Appeals Board had rejected their applications, and most had paid for it. Their fear and reluctance to return to their countries of origin outweighed the threat of punishment for illegal residence. The seldom enforcement of penalties related to illegal stay was reflected in how the participants perceived their illegal stay, namely primarily as a result of injustice rather than a crime (III). The threat of penalties related to working, and the lack of access to the informal labor market, contributed to most people not working. Unlike studies portraying these migrants as fearful of any involvement with the authorities, the thesis demonstrates that violated expectations of recognition can lead to resistance and collective mobilization. While rejected asylum seekers are not entirely deprived of legal protection and rights, they are—primarily because they are not granted the right to work—dependent on others. Their dependence on the “goodwill” of others places them in a vulnerable position and can lead to friends, including partners, being held criminally liable.

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