Ernst Fredrik Eckhoff was a Norwegian judge.

He was born in 1905 as a son of jurist Nicolay Kristian Schreuder Eckhoff (1870–1955). He was a second cousin of legal academic Torstein Eckhoff

Torstein Eckhoff

Torstein Einang Eckhoff was a Norwegian civil servant and professor of law at the University of Oslo.-Personal life:...

, designer Tias Eckhoff and actor Johannes Eckhoff

Johannes Eckhoff

Johannes Eckhoff was a Norwegian actor. He made his stage debut at Trøndelag Teater in 1939, and has later worked for Centralteatret, Det Nye Teater and Riksteatret. He participated in the film Englandsfarere in 1946, and in Kampen om tungtvannet from 1948...

, and a grandnephew of architect Niels Stockfleth Darre Eckhoff

Niels Stockfleth Darre Eckhoff

Niels Stockfleth Darre Eckhoff was a Norwegian architect.He was born in Throndhjem as the son of Christian Martin Eckhoff and his wife Nicoline Johanne Luytkis. He married Nicoline Otilie Eckhoff in July 1869; the couple had several children...

. He was also a first cousin of Anders Lange

Anders Lange

Anders Sigurd Lange was a Norwegian politician and the eponymous founder of the political party Anders Lange's Party . He was a charismatic right-wing public speaker who objected to high taxes, state-regulations and public bureaucracy.Lange has been described as a man who went his own ways...

. He lived in Kristiansand

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

.

During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

, he was a member of Milorg

Milorg

Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....

. He was discovered and arrested by the Nazi authorities in December 1942, and was incarcerated at Grini from 28 June 1943 to the liberation of Norway on 8 May 1945

Victory in Europe Day

Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...

. Soon after the liberation he was named as a Supreme Court Justice

Supreme Court of Norway

The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...

. In 1945 he was also named as a member of the commission Undersøkelseskommisjonen av 1945

Undersøkelseskommisjonen av 1945

Undersøkelseskommisjonen av 1945 was a commission appointed by the Parliament of Norway in 1945 and chaired by Gustav Heiberg, given the task to investigate the role of the three branches of power; the Norwegian Parliament, Government and Supreme Court as well as the Administrative Council in 1940...

that scrutinized the actions of the Norwegian government in 1940. The other commission members were Gustav Adolf Lammers Heiberg

Gustav Adolf Lammers Heiberg

Gustav Adolf Lammers Heiberg was a Norwegian barrister and politician for the Labour Party.-Personal life:He was born in Kristiania as a son of barrister Anton Vilhelm Heiberg and his wife Antonie Magdalene Fossum. He was a first cousin of Eivind, Jacob, Gunnar and Inge Heiberg and a first cousin...

, Arnold Holmboe

Arnold Holmboe

Arnold Holmboe was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He was mayor of Tromsø, two-term member of the Norwegian Parliament as well as Minister of Justice from 1922 to 1923 and Minister of Finance from 1924 to 1926....

, Ole Hallesby

Ole Hallesby

Ole Kristian Hallesby was an influential conservative Norwegian Lutheran pietist who taught at the Free Faculty of Theology from 1909 to 1952....

, Nils Nilsen Thune

Nils Nilsen Thune

Nils Nilsen Thune was a Norwegian jurist and civil servant.He was born in Vang, Oppland, and was a son of Nils Throndsen Thune. He graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 1902. He was hired in the Trondhjem police in 1911, and became police inspector in the city in 1916 and an assessor in 1920...

, Arne Bergsgård

Arne Bergsgård

Arne Bergsgård was a Norwegian historian, born in Vestre Slidre. He was a board member of Noregs Mållag from 1929 to 1936. He earned his dr.philos. degree in 1933, with a thesis on Ole Gabriel Ueland, and was appointed professor in 1935. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he joined...

 and Sverre Steen

Sverre Steen

Sverre Steen was a Norwegian historian, a professor at the University of Oslo, and known to the public through his radio series Langsomt ble landet vårt eget...

, and the secretary was Helge Sivertsen

Helge Sivertsen

Helge Sivertsen was a Norwegian discus thrower and politician. He was born in Mandal, but represented Inderøy IL in athletics competitions. His party affiliation was to the Labour Party....

. The background for the commission was the German invasion of Norway

Operation Weserübung

Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...

 on 9 April 1940, and the question was raised whether Norway could have avoided it through a different foreign

Foreign policy

A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...

 and security policy

Security policy

Security policy is a definition of what it means to be secure for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms such as doors, locks, keys and walls...

. Second, the actions of Norwegian authorities between 9 April and 25 September 1940 were investigated, both regarding the three branches of government (Parliament, Government, Supreme Court) that eventually laid down their offices, but also the transition authority (the Administrative Council) as well as other relevant civil and military bodies.

In 1952 he was rumored to replace Oscar Christian Gundersen

Oscar Christian Gundersen

Oscar Christian "O.C." Gundersen was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.Gundersen graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 1931. During the second cabinet Gerhardsen he was appointed Minister of Justice and the Police, a post he a year into the new cabinet Torp. He left in 1952 and became a...

 as Minister of Justice and the Police

Minister of Justice and the Police (Norway)

In Norway, the Minister of Justice and the Police is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and a member of Government of Norway. Current minister is Grete Faremo of the Norwegian Labour Party who is part of the second cabinet Stoltenberg...

, but this did not happen. He continued as a Supreme Court Justice until retiring in 1975. In the 1980s he was a member of the board of Scandinavian Airlines System

Scandinavian Airlines System

Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the largest airline in Scandinavia....

. He died in September 1997.