Court of appeal (Norway)
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The court of appeal ( no, lagmannsrett, lit. ‘lawman's court’) is the second level of courts of justice in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
, reviewing criminal and civil cases
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
ed from the district courts. There are six courts of appeal, each covering a jurisdiction and based in a city. Each court is led by a senior judge president (''førstelagmann'') and several appellate judges (''lagdommer''). The courts are administrated by the
Norwegian National Courts Administration The Norwegian Courts Administration ( no, Domstoladministrasjonen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the management and operations of the Courts of Justice of Norway. It is purely an administrative organisation, and does not interfer ...
. Decisions from civil and criminal matters, except the question of guilt, can be appealed from the courts of appeal to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
.


Criminal cases

In criminal cases, the court consists of two professional judges and five lay judges; all seven have equal votes in the decisions. In order to convict, five of the seven judges must vote for conviction, including at least one of the two professional judges. Even if the bench is reduced because of a
recusal Judicial disqualification, also referred to as recusal, is the act of abstaining from participation in an official action such as a legal proceeding due to a conflict of interest of the presiding court official or administrative officer. Applic ...
, the requirement for five guilty votes remains. Lay judges are members of the public without legal qualifications, who are appointed for periods of four years by the city and county councils.


Civil cases

In civil cases, the court will consists of three judicial judges, though two or four lay judges may be appointed in certain cases.


Courts

There are six courts of appeal: *
Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...
, based in
Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...
, serves the counties of Aust-Agder, Telemark, Vest-Agder and Vestfold. *
Borgarting The Borgarting was one of the major popular assemblies or things (''lagting'') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of the court and assembly for the southern coastal region of Norway from the south-eastern border with Sweden, westw ...
, based in
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...
, serves the counties of Oslo, Buskerud, Østfold and southern Akershus. *
Eidsivating Eidsivating was the name of one of the original Norwegian popular assemblies or '' Things''. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for the eastern parts of Norway. Summary Traditionally, Eidsivating was the court for the populatio ...
, based in
Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lak ...
, serves the counties of Hedmark, Oppland and northern Akershus. *
Frostating The Frostating was an early Norwegian court. It was one of the four major Thing (assembly), Things in medieval Norway. The Frostating had its seat at Tinghaugen in what is now the municipality of Frosta in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name ...
, based in
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...
, serves the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. *
Gulating Gulating ( non, Gulaþing) was one of the first Norwegian legislative assemblies, or '' things,'' and also the name of a present-day law court of western Norway. The practice of periodic regional assemblies predates recorded history, and was ...
, based in
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...
, serves the counties of Hordaland, Rogaland and Sogn og Fjordane. * Hålogaland, based in
Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...
, serves the counties of Finnmark, Nordland and Troms.


History

The court system in Norway dates back to about 950, when the things were created as assembly of the great farmers to set laws and convict people of breaching them. These main things were
Borgarting The Borgarting was one of the major popular assemblies or things (''lagting'') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of the court and assembly for the southern coastal region of Norway from the south-eastern border with Sweden, westw ...
,
Eidsivating Eidsivating was the name of one of the original Norwegian popular assemblies or '' Things''. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for the eastern parts of Norway. Summary Traditionally, Eidsivating was the court for the populatio ...
,
Gulating Gulating ( non, Gulaþing) was one of the first Norwegian legislative assemblies, or '' things,'' and also the name of a present-day law court of western Norway. The practice of periodic regional assemblies predates recorded history, and was ...
and
Frostating The Frostating was an early Norwegian court. It was one of the four major Thing (assembly), Things in medieval Norway. The Frostating had its seat at Tinghaugen in what is now the municipality of Frosta in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name ...
, but many smaller ones existed, and courts could be raised in any, or even multiple things, creating a fog of legal doubt in cases of disagreements. From about 1300 King Håkon V allowed cases to be appealed directly to the king, for final decision. District courts were established transitionally from the old things to ''bygdeting'', consisting of six or twelve lay judges (''lagrettemann'') appointed by the king. In 1539, with the removal of the Norwegian ''Riksråd'', a system of ''herredag'' was introduced each ten, later three, years. It acted as court of appeal for peasants, and first instance for the nobility. These things met in Oslo, Skien,
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
, Bergen and Trondheim; from 1625 only in Oslo and Bergen. A system of courts with instances, so a case could be appealed, was introduced in 1607. At first there were four levels of court. The district courts remained, but cases could be appealed to appeal judges (''lagmann''). Further they could be appealed to the ''herredag'', and at last to the king. In 1661, with the introduction of the
absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...
, a supreme court was created in
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, allowing a single and final decision to be made by one court. The following year the district courts were supplemented with the city courts, creating another level under the courts of appeal. The courts of appeal lasted until 1797, when they were removed. In 1797 four high courts (''overrett'') were created, replacing the courts of appeal. These were located in Christiania (Oslo), Bergen,
Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...
and Throndhjem. In 1890 they were reorganized and reduced to only three courts, with Kristiansand losing its seat. The courts of appeal lasted until 1797, when they were removed. At the same time the courts of appeal were reintroduced, and divided into five constitutions. The high courts remained until 1936, but were limited to only written procedure, while only oral procedure was permitted in the courts of appeal. In addition, the two levels had non-compatible jurisdictions, creating confusion and an unnecessary complexity. With the new system, the court of appeal became the second level for all civil cases, and lesser criminal cases, while they became the first level for serious criminal charges. This was changed in 1995 when all matters were to be handled by the district courts first. At the same time, the Eidsivating Court of Appeal was split in two, with Oppland, Hedmark and northern Akershus being administrated from Hamar and taking the name, while the Oslo office took the new name Borgarting.


References

{{Courts of Norway Courts in Norway