Norway has appointed an independent commission to investigate last month's terrorist attacks that killed 77 people.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the commission will try to draw information from the attacks and evaluating the response with the goal being greater safety.

Anders Behring Breivik has confessed to the July 22 attacks that killed eight people in a bomb blast in Oslo and 69 others at a youth camp on Utoeya island.

Norwegian police have been criticized for not arriving sooner on the island after the gunman started shooting. Critics say a faster response might have saved lives. Authorities also have been criticized for failing to improve security on the Oslo street where the explosion took place.

The commission is to work independently of the government and submit its report in August 2012.