Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

, impeachment, also known as the Constitutional Court of the Realm ( no, Riksrett), is a judicial process with the power to convict

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, Members of the Council of State, and Supreme Court Justices for criminal acts performed in line of duty. Impeachment is based on the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction = Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , ...

§§ 86 and 87. Parliament authorizes the impeachment process, which establishes a tribunal consisting of five members of 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 ...

and six lay members appointed by the

Parliament of Norway 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 bas ...

. Impeachment has been used eight times, the last case being held in 1927.

History

Impeachment has been performed eight times in the history of the kingdom, and each time it has been aimed at members of the government. Six of the cases were in the period 1814–45. During the constitutional struggle in the last half of the 19th century impeachment became vital following the case against Selmer's Cabinet in 1883 and 1884, concerning the

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

rights of the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

in matters of the constitution. Prior to this case, impeachment was the only way for parliament to dismiss a member of the cabinet; after 1884 Norway got a system of

parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of t ...

, and parliament could dismiss a member of cabinet through a majority vote. After the constitutional battle of 1884 was over, there was only one case, where Prime Minister

Abraham Berge Abraham Theodor Berge (20 August 1851 – 10 July 1936) was the 15th prime minister of Norway from 1923 to 1924. He was a teacher and civil servant who represented the Liberal Party, the social liberal party, and later Free-minded Liberal Party, a ...

and six members of his cabinet were found not guilty in 1927. Since then impeachment has not been used, and is no longer considered part of the political game. Public commissions have since looked at reforming or removing impeachment, and transferring the institution to the ordinary courts. On 20 February 2007 the parliament voted to change the constitution such that the organization of impeachment becomes more potent, and changing the requirements so the lay members of the court are not current members of parliament.

Cases

There have been eight cases of impeachment:

Structure

Prior to the 2007 constitution change, the ''Odelsting'' chamber was to act as prosecutor and the ''Lagting'' chamber along with the supreme court was to act as the court. Ten members of the ''Lagting'' and five from the supreme court were to rule in the matter. The constitutional change merged the two chambers, causing the process of impeachment also to be changed. The court would consist of eleven members, five from the supreme court and six lay members chosen by parliament for a period of six years. Current members of parliament are not eligible to serve, as they are presumed to have a conflict of interest in the matter. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is to lead the impeachment. The responsibility to act as prosecutor is held by the parliament, and is to be administrated by a parliamentary committee, ''Stortingets ansvarskommisjon''. The changes made impeachment a more viable threat to office holders should they breach their limitations.

References

{{Courts of Norway Judiciary of Norway

Government of Norway