Supreme Court of Norway
Encyclopedia
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
Norges Høyesterett) was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway
Constitution of Norway
The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll , then signed and dated May 17...
's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and is Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
's highest court. In addition to serving as the court of final appeal for civilian and criminal cases, it can also rule whether the cabinet has acted in accordance with Norwegian law; and whether the legislature has passed legislation consistent with the constitution.
The Supreme Court of Norway is Norway's highest court. It has the entire kingdom of Norway as its jurisdiction. It is a court of appeal, i.e. cases can not be brought before the court if they are not tried in a district court and in most cases also in a regional court of appeal. Nevertheless, its primary role is not simply to be yet another hearing of the case that has been heard by two independent previous courts. The Supreme Court therefore has the prerogative to decide itself which cases 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 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 the regional courts as courts of appeal.
The Supreme Court has a committee consisting of three judges that decides what cases shall be tried in the Supreme Court. The same committee decides in procedural questions appealed from the lower courts.
A normal Supreme Court case is decided by five judges. However the chief justice can decide that all judges hear the case. Such "plenum-cases" often involve fundamental questions or cases that might alter the Supreme Courts own precedence.
The court is chaired by a Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway is the judicial leader of the Supreme Court of Norway.The following is a chronological list of chief justices since the court was established:...
with eighteen judges. The current chief justice is Tore Schei
Tore Schei
Tore Schei is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway, his term starting on 1 August 2002.He was born in Oslo as a son of Andreas Schei. He is a nephew of Nikolai Schei....
.