Vestfold District Court ( no, Vestfold tingrett) is a district court located in

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold ...

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 the ...

. This court is based at three different courthouses which are located in

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

, Larvik, and Horten. The court serves the eastern part of the county which includes 5 municipalities. The court in Larvik accepts cases from the municipalities of Larvik and

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

. The court in Horten accepts cases from the municipalities of Horten and

Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). T ...

. The court in Tønsberg accepts cases from the municipalities of

and

Færder Færder is a municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Borgheim. The municipality was established in 2018 by the unification of the former municipalities of ...

. The court is subordinate to the

Agder Court of Appeal The Agder Court of Appeal ( no, Agder lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the town of Skien. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Vestfold og Telemark and Agder (except for Si ...

. The court is led by a chief judge () and several other judges. The court is 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 accorda ...

. Its judicial duties are mainly to settle criminal cases and to resolve civil litigation as well as bankruptcy. The administration and registration tasks of the court include death registration, issuing certain certificates, performing duties of a notary public, and officiating civil wedding ceremonies. Cases from this court are heard by a combination of professional judges and lay judges.

History

This court was established on 1 January 2019 after the old Larvik District Court, Nordre Vestfold District Court, Sandefjord District Court and Tønsberg District Court were all merged into one court. The new district court system continued to use the courthouses from the predecessor courts. The courthouse in Sandefjord was permanently closed on 17 December 2020.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=February 2022 District courts of Norway 2019 establishments in Norway Organisations based in Tønsberg Organisations based in Horten Organisations based in Larvik