Indre Finnmark District Court ( no, Indre Finnmark tingrett or sme, Sis-Finnmárkku diggegoddi) was a district court in

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 ...

county,

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 t ...

. The court was based in the village of

Tana Bru Tana bru ( sme, Deanušaldi) is the administrative centre of Deatnu-Tana Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village lies on the western bank of the Tana River, along the European route E6 highway. The village has a populati ...

. The court existed from 2004 until 2021. It served the municipalities of

Nesseby or (also unofficially ''Uuniemi'' in Kven) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Varangerbotn. Other villages in Nesseby include Gandvik, Karlebotn, Nesseby, an ...

Tana Tana may refer to: Places Africa * Lake Tana, a lake in Ethiopia (and a source of the Nile River) * Tana Qirqos, an island in the eastern part of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, near the mouth of the Gumara River * Tana River County, a county of Coast Pro ...

Karasjok ( se, Kárášjohka ; fkv, Kaarasjoki) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Karasjok. Other villages include Dorvonjárga, Šuoššjávri, and Váljohka. The ...

Porsanger Porsanger ( se, Porsáŋgu; fkv, Porsanki) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lakselv. Other villages in t ...

and

Kautokeino Kautokeino ( no, Kautokeino; se, Guovdageaidnu ; fkv, Koutokeino; fi, Koutokeino) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other villages ...

. Cases from this court could be appealed to

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal ( no, Hålogaland lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as ...

. The court was led by the chief judge () Finn-Arne Schanche Selfors. This court also had two other judges, three prosecutors, and one

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

to help with the bilingual nature of this court. This court was officially bilingual in that all work (oral or written) could be done in either the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

or the

Northern Sami language Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

. The court had an additional responsibility (based on section 110 of the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

) that other district courts did not have: to protect the customs and identity of the

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

as well as the rights of Sami-speaking people to have the full access of the law in this court. The court was a

court of first instance A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance w ...

. Its judicial duties were mainly to settle criminal cases and to resolve civil litigation as well as

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. The administration and registration tasks of the court included death registration, issuing certain certificates, performing duties of a notary public, and officiating civil wedding ceremonies. Cases from this court were heard by a combination of professional judges and

lay judges A lay judge, sometimes called a lay assessor, is a person assisting a judge in a trial. Lay judges are used in some civil law jurisdictions. Lay judges are appointed volunteers and often require some legal instruction. However, they are not permane ...

History

The court was established on 1 January 2004 and its official opening was on 23 June 2004. The court was established by a recommendation to support the

Sami language Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

-speaking region of Finnmark. On 26 April 2021, the court was merged with the

Øst-Finnmark District Court Øst-Finnmark District Court ( no, Øst-Finnmark tingrett) was a district court (Norway), district court located in the Vadsø (town), town of Vadsø in Finnmark county, Norway. The court served the eastern part of the county which includes the m ...

to create the new

Indre og Østre Finnmark District Court Indre og Østre Finnmark District Court ( no, Indre og Østre Finnmark tingrett or sme, Sis-ja Nuorta-Finnmárkku diggegoddi) is a district court located in Finnmark, Norway. This court is based at two different courthouses which are located in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indre Finnmark District Court Defunct district courts of Norway Organisations based in Tana Bru 2004 establishments in Norway Courts and tribunals established in 2004 2021 disestablishments in Norway