Sjur Brækhus (19 June 1918 – 19 May 2009) was a Norwegian legal scholar and judge. He was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

as a son of captain and ship-owner Sigurd Alfred Brækhus (1879–1952) and Hilda Sverresdatter Klingenberg (1884–1957). He

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education at

Frogner School Frogner School ( no, Frogner Høiere Almenskole and subsequently ''Frogner Realskole og Gymnas'', commonly known as ''Frogner skole'') was a secondary school at Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The school was a continuation of the Gjertsen School, which ...

in 1936 and graduated with the

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1941. He was a deputy judge in

Eiker, Modum and Sigdal District Court Eiker, Modum og Sigdal District Court ( no, Eiker, Modum og Sigdal tingrett) is a district court located in Hokksund, Norway. It covers the municipalities of Krødsherad, Modum, Nedre Eiker, Sigdal and Øvre Eiker and is subordinate Borgarting Cou ...

from 1941 to 1942. He became a research fellow at the University of Oslo in 1945 and took the

dr.juris The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree in 1947 with the thesis ''Meglerens rettslige stilling''. He was married twice, the first time from 1945 to 1957. He was hired as a

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

at the University of Oslo in 1947, and was promoted to professor already in 1948. He remained here until retirement in 1988. He served as dean from 1963 to 1967. His main field was

private law Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the ''jus commune'' that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts and torts (as it is called in the common law), and the law of obligations ( ...

in general, and his main work was ''Omsetning og kreditt'', released in four volumes between 1985 and 1998. Sub-fields of note were

maritime law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...

, bankruptcy law and court law. Other well-known books are ''Norsk tingsrett'' (1964 with Axel Hærem), ''Bergning'' (1968), ''Konkursrett'' (1969), and ''Sjørett, voldgift og lovvalg'' (1998). He edited the journal ''Arkiv for Sjørett'' from 1951 to 1970. He was also an acting presiding judge in

Eidsivating Court of Appeal The Eidsivating Court of Appeal ( no, Eidsivating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Hamar. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Innlandet and eastern Viken. These ...

in 1953 as well as an arbitration court judge. He was a proponent for the Riksmål written form of the Norwegian language, and was a member of the Norwegian Language Council from 1976 to 1991 and the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature from 1976 to his death. He was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...

from 1950 and held

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

s at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

. He was decorated as a Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

in 1981, a Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 1990 as well as a Knight of the Order of the Polar Star. He resided at Stabekk. He died in May 2009. He died on May 19, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braekhus, Sjur 1918 births 2009 deaths Lawyers from Bergen University of Oslo alumni Academics of the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo Norwegian judges Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Riksmål-language writers Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences