Erling Sandene (7 April 1921 – 5 March 2015) was a Norwegian judge and civil servant.

Early and family life

He was born in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electora ...

, a son of Jensine Sæther (1887–1981) and her schoolteacher husband Johan Sandene (1885–1945). Sandene married Erna Harbitz Torstenson in 1949 and they remained married until her death in 1986. He enrolled as a student in 1940, and graduated as

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. No ...

in 1943 after only three years. He was also involved in the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance ( Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governmen ...

Career

In 1945 Sandene began his legal career as a deputy judge in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

, where he helped handle the postwar legal purge. In 1946 Sandene began working in the

Ministry of Justice and the Police The Royal Ministry of Justice and Public Security ( no, Det kongelige justis- og beredskapsdepartement) is a Norwegian government ministry that oversees justice, the police, and domestic intelligence. The main purpose of the ministry is to provide ...

. He was promoted to deputy under-secretary of state in 1962. Sandene became County Governor of Møre og Romsdal from 1966 to 1972. He then served as

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...

beginning in 1972 as well as

Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsman The Norwegian Parliamentary Ombud (), formerly the Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsman (), is the ombudsman appointed by the Norwegian Parliament to safeguard the rights of individual citizens in their dealings with all levels of the public adminis ...

from 1974 to 1982. From 1984 to 1991, Sandene was the 17th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Death and honors

Sandene died on March 5, 2015. During his lifetime (1982), Sandene was appointed a Commander with Star of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

in 1982, and was also a freemason.

References

1921 births 2015 deaths People from Bærum Parliamentary ombudspersons in Norway County governors of Norway Directors of government agencies of Norway Chief justices of Norway Norwegian resistance members Personnel of the legal purge in Norway Norwegian Freemasons {{norway-law-bio-stub