John Christian Elden (born 2 July 1967) is a Norwegian lawyer and politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Both his father, John Elden, and his great-uncle, O.C. Gundersen, were lawyers. Elden has been a defender in a number of high-profile criminal cases.

Politics

Elden was chairman of Ullern Unge Høyre in 1981, chair of the Oslo Gymnasium Committee, chairman of the Norwegian Student Societyin 1987 and chair of the Student Council in Oslo in 1990. He was a member of oslo city council for the Conservative Party from 1988 to 1991. From 2007 to 2010 he was a member of the Vestre Aker district committee. From 2011 to 2013 he was a councillor in the City of Oslo. From 2013 to 2017 he was the Conservative Party's sixth deputy representative to the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years ...

from Oslo and met two days in the autumn of 2015. From 2017 to 2021 he was the

's eighth deputy representative in Oslo.

Education and occupation

Elden graduated with a law degree from the University of Oslo in 1991, received a lawyer's licence in 1993 and a right to appear before the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 1999. He was chief financial officer of Norges Gymnasiastsamband and Operasjon Dagsverk from 1985 to 1987, a storting journalist for the Conservative Party from 1987 to 1988, consultant in the Student Welfare Organisation in Oslo in 1991, research assistant at the University of Oslo from 1991 to 1992 and associate with his father, lawyer John Elden, 1991–1993. John Christian Elden is a partner in Elden Law Firm established in 1993, permanent defender in

Oslo District Court Oslo District Court ( no, Oslo tingrett) is a district court located in Oslo, Norway. This court is based at the Oslo Courthouse in the city of Oslo. The court serves the entire city of Oslo and the court is subordinate to the Borgarting Court of ...

from 2000 and permanent defender in

Borgarting Court of Appeal The Borgarting Court of Appeal ( no, Borgarting lagmannsrett) is one of six intermediate courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Oslo. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Oslo and western Vik ...

from 2000. He has also been project secretary at the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

(FES) in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He participated in the US State Department IV Leadership Program in 2005. Elden won the award for lawyer of the year organized by

Finansavisen ''Finansavisen'' is a Norwegian business newspaper published by Hegnar Media in Oslo, Norway. History and profile ''Finansavisen'' was first published on 1 October 1992 by Trygve Hegnar, who is also editor-in-chief. The paper has its headquart ...

in 2014 for his work on the Røeggen case that was won against

DnB Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

in the Supreme Court's grand chamber. Elden was named Norway's foremost defense lawyer by

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

in 2001. He has been a defender in a number of high-profile criminal cases. He was the defense lawyer for

Erling Havnå Erling Mathias Havnå (born 2 November 1957) of Arendal, Norway, is a former kickboxer and convicted criminal. In 2005, Erling Havnå was charged and prosecuted for participating in the NOKAS armed robbery of 2004, together with David Toska an ...

. In 2022, Elden served as the lead defence lawyer for Zaniar Matapour, the suspected perpetrator of the Oslo shooting that left two people dead and 21 others injured.

References

1967 births Living people University of Oslo alumni 20th-century Norwegian lawyers Deputy members of the Storting Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo 21st-century Norwegian lawyers {{Norway-politician-1960s-stub