Supreme Court (Norway)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian
Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is one of the official written standards for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is by far the most used written form of Norwegian today, as it is adopted by 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. There is no cou ...
: ; Norwegian
Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...
: ; lit. 'Highest Court') is the
highest court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in the Norwegian judiciary. It was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
of the
Kingdom of Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Norway. Bouvet I ...
, which prescribed an independent judiciary. It is located in the capital
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
. In addition to serving as the court of final appeal for civil and criminal cases, it can also rule whether the
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
has acted in accordance with Norwegian law and whether the
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
has passed legislation consistent with the Constitution.


Appointment process

Section 21 of the Norwegian Constitution grants the
King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty king ...
sole authority to appoint judges to the Supreme Court. In Norwegian tradition, however, this section is interpreted as delegating the privilege to the
Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
, i.e. the cabinet. The cabinet makes their appointments on the advice of the Judicial Appointments Board, a body whose members are also appointed by the Council of State.


Information

The Supreme Court is Norway's highest court. It has the entire Kingdom as its jurisdiction. It is a court of appeal, i.e. cases cannot be brought before the court if they have not been tried in a district court () and in most cases also in a regional court (). Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has the prerogative to decide itself which cases of appeal it shall hear. This leads the court to hear cases of principal importance, where clarification is needed or where standards need to be set. Rulings set substantial precedence for the lower courts as well as for the Supreme Court itself. As a subject to Norwegian law, one has no right to be heard in the Supreme Court, as the universal Human Rights article on a fair trial is believed to be satisfied with the district courts and as courts of appeal the regional courts. The Supreme Court has a committee consisting of three justices who decide what cases shall be tried in the Supreme Court. The same committee decides in procedural questions appealed from the lower courts. Once approved, the case is heard and decided by 5 justices. A case may be decided in grand chamber, set with 11 justices, if the court decides that clear precedence needs to be set. In rare circumstances, a case may be heard in
plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily r ...
by all 20 justices. This happens when the court needs to decide if legislation conflicts with the constitution or a case involves fundamental questions. The court is chaired by a Chief Justice together with 19 other justices. The current Chief Justice is
Toril Marie Øie Toril Marie Øie (born 17 July 1960) is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway. She was born in Oslo, and graduated from the University of Oslo as a Candidate of Law in 1986. She worked in the Ministry of Justice and the Police from 198 ...
. To be eligible to apply for the position as a Supreme Court justice, the
Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...
states that one must be a Norwegian citizen, have a law degree with excellent academic record and be at least 30 years old. Justice may only be removed by
impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...
through conviction in the Riksrett. As of 2013, this has never happened. Justices face mandatory retirement at age 70. The court's salary is regulated by the
Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...
. Since October 1, 2011, justices have been paid NOK 1,487,000 ($262,600) and the chief justice NOK 1,724,000 ($304,500).


See also

*
List of justices of the Supreme Court of Norway List of justices in the Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian Bokmål: ; Norwegian Nynorsk: ; lit. 'Highest Court') is the highest court in the Norwegian judiciary. It was established in 1815 on the basis of section 8 ...
*
Appeals Selection Committee of the Supreme Court of Norway The Appeals Selection Committee of the Supreme Court (in Norwegian Høyesteretts ankeutvalg) was originally a court of Norway in its own right. However, it no longer constitutes a separate instance – a case will be decided upon ''either'' by ...


References


Citations


External links

* {{Authority control Law of Norway
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 ...
1815 establishments in Norway Courts and tribunals established in 1815