Why was Breivik only sentenced to 21 years?

Twenty-one years is the maximum term of imprisonment stipulated in the Norwegian criminal law. Not all countries have the highest penalty of death. The death penalty, as the most severe penalty, has been abolished by most countries, and many countries have lost. The death penalty is restricted.

Legal basis:

Article 48 of the "Criminal Law": The death penalty is only applicable to criminals with extremely serious crimes. Except for those sentenced by the Supreme People's Court in accordance with the law, all death sentences must be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval. If the death penalty is suspended, it may be decided or approved by the Higher People's Court.

Expand knowledge:

Only about 40 countries in the world still retain the death penalty, and about 10 of them have not actually carried out the death penalty in the past two decades. Among the remaining thirty or so countries, about half do not impose the death penalty on non-violent crimes, which means that the death penalty only targets violent crimes. From the perspective of human civilization, the death penalty is an extreme form of legal violence adopted by rulers to maintain their rule. , depriving the criminal of life is the highest form of punishment, but this should be prohibited in a human rights society. Most people think that the death penalty is a meaningless punishment. It can neither warn the world nor make criminals repent. On the premise of respecting the sovereignty of all countries, the world human rights organization actively calls for the abolition of the death penalty around the world.

Under the current circumstances, our country cannot abolish the death penalty. The main reason is that our country’s national conditions determine it. Our country has a large population, low overall national quality, hatred of crime, and recognition of the death penalty. Primitive legal concepts such as murder and life are deeply ingrained. It is believed that only the death penalty can truly punish criminals and serve as a warning to the world. However, our country has also begun to gradually restrict the use of the death penalty. The Chinese Criminal Law stipulates that the death penalty is only applicable to a very small number of criminals who have committed extremely serious crimes, and stipulates that Strict application standards have been established, so the abolition of the death penalty is a requirement for the progress of human civilization, and the death penalty will definitely be abolished in our country eventually.