Sunnmøre District Court ( no, Sunnmøre tingrett) was a district court in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

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 town of Ålesund. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over approximately the southern third of the county, except the far southern part, and it includes the municipalities of

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

Giske Giske is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality lies north-northwest of the town of Ålesund in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The municipal centre is Valderhaugstrand. Other population centres i ...

Haram ''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...

Hareid Hareid is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Hareid. The other main population centers are Brandal and Hjørungavåg. The municipality is situ ...

, Norddal,

Skodje Skodje (''pronunciation'': kɔʏəor køʏə is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre was the village of Skodje. The other main village in the municipality ...

, Stordal,

Stranda Stranda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stranda. Stranda consists of three smaller villages and one larger central villag ...

, Sula,

Sykkylven Sykkylven is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Aure. Other villages in the municipality include Ikornnes, Straumgjerde, and Tusvik. The municipa ...

Ulstein Ulstein is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The commercial and administrative centre of Ulstein is the town of Ulsteinvik. The municipality occupies the western half of the island of Hareid ...

and

Ørskog Ørskog is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre was the village of Sjøholt. The other main village was Vaksvika, about south of Sjøholt. The European Rou ...

. Cases from this court could be appealed to

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal ( no, Frostating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal ...

. The court was led by the chief judge () Kirsti Høegh Bjørneset. This court employed a chief judge, seven other judges, and several prosecutors. 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

In 1798, the old Sunnmøre district court was divided into

Søre Sunnmøre District Court Søre Sunnmøre District Court ( no, Søre Sunnmøre tingrett) was a district court in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The court was based in the village of Volda. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over southern part of the coun ...

(based in

Volda Volda is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Volda. Other villages in the municipality include Dravlaus, Fyrde, Straumshamn, Leira, Bjørke, and ...

) and Nordre Sunnmøre District Court (based in

). The northern area roughly corresponded to the present day Sunnmøre District Court. The name of the northern court was later changed to simply Sunnmøre District Court. In 1967, the municipalities of

and

were transferred from the Søre Sunnmøre District Court to the Sunnmøre District Court. On 26 April 2021, this court was merged with the

Romsdal District Court Romsdal District Court ( no, Romsdal tingrett) was a district court in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Molde. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the central part of the county which inclu ...

, and

Nordmøre District Court Nordmøre District Court ( no, Nordmøre tingrett) was a district court in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Kristiansund. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the northern part of the county ...

to create the new

Møre og Romsdal District Court Møre og Romsdal District Court ( no, Møre og Romsdal tingrett) is a district court (Norway), district court located in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Volda (village), Volda ...

References

Defunct district courts of Norway Organisations based in Ålesund 1798 establishments in Norway 2021 disestablishments in Norway {{Norway-gov-stub