Hedmarken District Court () was a

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The court existed from 1588 to 1777 and again from 1992 until 2021. It served the

Hedmarken (, ; known as ''Hedemarken'' until 2003) is a traditional district in Innlandet county in Eastern Norway. Hedmarken consists of the municipalities Stange, Hamar, Løten, and Ringsaker. In the past, it also contained the municipalities of Ro ...

area which included the municipalities of

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

Løten Løten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, H ...

Ringsaker Ringsaker () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Br ...

, and

Stange is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen. Other villages include Bekkelaget, Espa, Bottenfjellet, Il ...

. The court was based in

. The court had one chief judge, four other judges and two deputy judges, as well as an administrative staff of 12. Cases from this court could be appealed to the

Eidsivating Court of Appeal The Eidsivating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Hamar, with jurisdiction over the Eidsivating judicial district (), comprising the counties of Innlandet, Østfold, a ...

. The court was a

court of first instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

. Its judicial duties were mainly to settle criminal cases and to resolve civil litigation as well as

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

. The administration and registration tasks of the court included death registration, issuing certain certificates, performing duties of a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

, and officiating civil wedding ceremonies. Cases from this court were heard by a combination of professional judges and

lay judges A lay judge, sometimes called a lay assessor, is a person assisting a judge in a trial. Lay judges are used in some civil law jurisdictions. Lay judges are appointed volunteers and often require some legal instruction. However, they are not perma ...

History

Hedmarken District Court was established by royal resolution from

King Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is the longest in Scandinavian history. A member of the H ...

on 31 July 1591. The court was based in

. It was in operation until 8 January 1777, when the court was divided into Nord-Hedmark District Court and Sør-Hedmark District Court. On 1 January 1992, the Nord-Hedmark and Sør-Hedmark courts were merged back together to create the Hedmarken District Court. On 26 April 2021, the court was merged with the Nord-Østerdal District Court and the

Sør-Østerdal District Court Sør-Østerdal District Court () was a district court in Innlandet county, Norway. The court was located in Elverum. It included the southern part of Østerdalen, including the municipalities of Elverum, Trysil, Våler, Åmot, and Åsnes. Case ...

to create the new Østre Innlandet District Court.

References

{{authority control Defunct district courts of Norway Organisations based in Hamar 1588 establishments in Norway 1777 disestablishments in Norway 1992 establishments in Norway 2021 disestablishments in Norway Courts and tribunals established in 1588 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1777 Courts and tribunals established in 1992 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 2021