Tor-Aksel Busch (born 17 March 1950) is a Norwegian lawyer and government official. He served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 1997 to 2019.

Career

Born in

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 ...

on 17 March 1950, Busch graduated as a lawyer (

cand.jur. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

) from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

in 1974. From 1981 to 1987 he was a public prosecutor in

Eidsivating Eidsivating () was one of the four ancient popular assemblies or things (') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for the eastern parts of Norway, and was located at Eidsvoll. History Traditionally, Eidsivating ...

, and from 1987 to 1997 assistant director of public prosecutions. In 1997 he was appointed as Norwegian Director of Public Prosecutions, succeeding

Georg Fredrik Rieber-Mohn Georg Fredrik Rieber-Mohn (born 13 August 1945) is a Norwegian judge. He was born in Lillehammer, and graduated as cand.jur. from the University of Oslo in 1969. He worked as a secretary from 1969, and as a prison administrator from 1971. In 1974 ...

. As director, he continued his predecessor's focus on

environmental crime Environmental crime is an illegal act which directly harms the environment. These illegal activities involve the environment, wildlife, biodiversity, and natural resources. International bodies such as, G7, Interpol, European Union, United Na ...

s and on cases on

occupational safety and health Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...

. He also expressed that the solved number of cases on

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

was too low. Busch retired on 31 October 2019. During his career he prosecuted 138 cases for the

Supreme 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 ...

. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-serving director of prosecution in Norway. He was succeeded by Jørn Sigurd Maurud. His last week as Director of Public Prosecutions was dominated by starting cleanup after it was revealed that a years-long unlawful practice by the

Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV, originally an abbreviation of ''Nye arbeids- og velferdsetaten'') is the current Norwegian public welfare agency, which consists of the state Labour and Welfare Service as well as municipal w ...

had effected thousands of clients, including a number of fraud cases based on wrong premises.

Awards

Busch was the first recipient of the Rights Prize (''Rettighetsprisen'') in 2014, which he received for his work combating

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. He was awarded the

Norwegian Police Cross of Honour The Norwegian Police Cross of Honour () is a medal which is awarded by the head of the National Police Directorate of Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peni ...

in 2019. He was also awarded the Norwegian Association of Lawyers' (Rule of Law Prize) in 2019 and the Stine Sofie's Foundation's Children's Rights Prize (''Barnerettsprisen'') in 2020. In 2021 he became a commander of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; 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, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

, Norway's highest honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Tor-Aksel 1950 births Living people Lawyers from Oslo Civil servants from Oslo University of Oslo alumni