Vestre Finnmark District Court ( no, Vestre Finnmark tingrett) is a district court located in northern

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 ...

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

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

and

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

. The court serves 7 municipalities in the eastern part of

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 ...

and one municipality (

Kvænangen Kvænangen ( sme, Návuotna; fkv, Naavuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord. The European route E6 highway goes through the municipality and over th ...

) in

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 ...

. The court in Alta accepts cases from the municipalities of

Loppa Loppa ( sme, Láhppi and fkv, Lappea) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Øksfjord. Other villages in Loppa include Andsnes, Bergsfjord, Langfjordhamn, Loppa, ...

, and

. The court in Hammerfest accepts cases from the municipalities of

Hasvik Hasvik ( sme, Ákŋoluovtta gielda; fkv, Hasviikan komuuni) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Breivikbotn. Other villages in the municipality include Breivik ...

Måsøy Måsøy ( sme, Muosát; fkv, Moseija) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Havøysund. Other villages include Bakfjord, Gunnarnes, Ingøy, Måsøy, Slåtten, an ...

Nordkapp ), North Cape, Norway, other uses, North Cape (disambiguation) Nordkapp ( en, North Cape; sme, Davvinjárga or ; fkv, Kappa or ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town o ...

, and

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 ...

. The court is subordinate to the

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 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 accordance w ...

. Its judicial duties are 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 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 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

This court was established on 26 April 2021 after the old

Alta District Court Alta District Court ( no, Alta tingrett) was the district court based in the town of Alta in Finnmark county, Norway. The court served the municipalities of Alta and Loppa. The court was subordinate to the Hålogaland Court of Appeal. The cour ...

Hammerfest District Court Hammerfest District Court ( no, Hammerfest tingrett) was a district court based in the town of Hammerfest in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The court served the northern part of the county which included the municipalities of Hammerfest, Hasv ...

, and a small part of

Nord-Troms District Court Nord-Troms District Court ( no, Nord-Troms tingrett) was a district court located in the city of Tromsø in Troms county, Norway. The court served the part of the county located north of the Malangen fjord, plus the territory of Svalbard. This ...

(just

Kvænangen Municipality Kvænangen ( sme, Návuotna; fkv, Naavuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord. The European route E6 highway goes through the municipality and over ...

) were all merged into one court. The new district court system continues to use the courthouses from the predecessor courts.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=February 2022 District courts of Norway 2021 establishments in Norway Organisations based in Alta, Norway Organisations based in Hammerfest