Øst-Finnmark District Court () was a

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

located in the town of Vadsø in

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The court served the eastern part of the county which includes the municipalities of Berlevåg, Båtsfjord,

Gamvik Gamvik or Gamvika may refer to: Places * Gamvik Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway * Gamvik (village), a village in Gamvik Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway * Gamvik Church, a church in Gamvik Municipality in Finnmark cou ...

Lebesby Lebesby ( and ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kjøllefjord. Other villages in the municipality include Ifjord, ...

, Sør-Varanger,

Vadsø Vadsø or Vadso may refer to: Places * Vadsø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vadsø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, tow ...

, and

Vardø Vardo or Vardø may refer to: Places * Vardø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vardø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative centre of Vard� ...

. The court was subordinate to the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal () 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 well as the island territor ...

. The court was led by the chief judge () Steinar Langholm. This court employed a chief judge, three other judges, and five prosecutors. The court was a

court of first instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

. 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 deb ...

. The administration and registration tasks of the court included death registration, issuing certain certificates, performing duties of a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

, and officiating civil wedding ceremonies. Cases from this court were heard by a combination of professional judges and lay judges.

History

The Øst-Finnmark District Court was established on 1 January 2004 when the old Tana og Varanger District Court and Vardø District Court were merged. On 26 April 2021, the court was merged with the

Indre Finnmark District Court Indre Finnmark District Court ( or ) was a district court in Finnmark county, Norway. The court was based in the village of Tana Bru. The court existed from 2004 until 2021. It served the municipalities of Nesseby, Tana, Karasjok, Porsanger and ...

to create the new Indre og Østre Finnmark District Court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ost-Finnmark District Court Defunct district courts of Norway Organisations based in Vadsø 2004 establishments in Norway 2021 disestablishments in Norway Courts and tribunals established in 2004 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 2021