The Hålogaland Court of Appeal ( no, Hålogaland lagmannsrett) is one of six

courts of appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

in the

Kingdom of Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Jan Mayen and the ...

. The Court is located in the city of

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

, and

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

as well as the island territories of

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger nort ...

and

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

. These areas constitute the judicial district of Hålogaland ( no, Hålogaland lagdømme), which has nearly a half a million residents. This court can rule on both civil and criminal cases that are

appealed 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 ...

from one of its subordinate district courts. Court decisions can be, to a limited extent, appealed to the

Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway (Norwegian Bokmål: ''(Norges) Høyesterett''; Norwegian Nynorsk: ''(Noregs) Høgsterett''; lit. ‘Highest Court’) was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, whi ...

. The court has 16 full-time judges plus a number of other support staff members (as of 2015). The chief judicial officer of the court ( no, førstelagmann) is currently Monica Hansen Nylund. The court is administered 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 ...

. Because of the great distances both at land and at sea in Northern Norway, the Court deals with many cases related to fishery and land rights. Northern Norway is also where the "three peoples" meet (

Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...

, Samis, and

Kvens Kvens (; fi, kveeni; no, kvenar, kvener; sv, kväner; se, kveanat) are a Balto-Finnic ethnic minority in Norway. They are descended from Finnish peasants and fishermen who emigrated from the northern parts of Finland and Sweden to Northe ...

). The cultural variations demand bigger efforts of the Court's judges, among other the ability to understand different ways of living and thinking. Also lingual variations represent a challenge.

Location

The Court has its seat in

, the capital of Troms county and the largest city in

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

(

Hålogaland Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norway, Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a Monarchy, kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and ...

). Additionally, the Court permanently sits in the towns of

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

(the capital of Nordland county and the second largest city in Northern Norway) and

Mosjøen Mosjøen (; sma, Mussere) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Vefsn Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Mosjøen is the oldest town in the Helgeland region, with only the Bodø (town), town of Bodø being older within Nordland c ...

(also in Nordland county). The Court may also sit in other places within its jurisdiction as needed. Hålogaland lagmannsrett.jpg, The Courthouse in

Justisbygget Mosjoeen.jpg, The Building of Justice in

Jurisdiction

This court accepts appeals from all of the district courts from its geographic jurisdiction. This court is divided into judicial regions ( no, lagsogn) and there is one or more district courts ( no, tingrett) that belongs to each of these regions.

History

During the Middle Ages, the old

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

of Hålogaland met at

Steigen Steigen ('stejgen) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Leinesfjord. Other villages include Bogen, Leines, Nordfold, N ...

in Nordland county. This assembly was dissolved in 1797 and after that time, Hålogaland was part of the diocesan court 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, and ...

. On 1 January 1890, the Hålogaland District Court was established with its main court in the city of

References

External links

Hålogaland Court of Appeals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haalogaland Court of Appeal Courts of appeal of Norway 1890 establishments in Norway Organisations based in Tromsø Courts and tribunals established in 1890