Courts of Justice of Norway

The judiciary of Norway is hierarchical with the Supreme Court at the apex. The conciliation boards only hear certain types of civil cases. The district courts are deemed to be the first instance of the Courts of Justice. Jury (high) courts are the second instance and the Supreme Court is the third instance.

The structure of the courts of justice is hierarchical and hierarchic with the Supreme Court at the apex. The conciliation boards only hear certain types of civil cases. The district courts are deemed to be the first instance of the Courts of Justice. Jury (high) courts are the second instance and the Supreme Court is the third instance.

The Supreme Court is Norway's highest court of justice and the instance of appeal for verdicts handed down by courts of a lower level. The court is situated in Oslo. The decisions made here are final and cannot be appealed or complained against. The only exception is for cases that can be brought before the Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Three of the Supreme Court judges form the Interlocutory Appeals Committee. This committee has to agree that a case is to be brought before the Supreme Court.

The country is divided into six appellate districts. Each court of appeal (Norwegian: lagmannsrett) is headed by a senior judge president and each court of appeal has several appellate judges. The courts are:

The district courts (Norwegian: tingrett) are the first instance of the courts of justice. There are 83 district courts.

A conciliation board is allocated to each municipality. Each conciliation board consists of three laymen and an equal number of deputies elected or appointed by the municipality council for terms of four years. Conciliation boards are to mediate between disputing parties and are widely authorised to pronounce a verdict. The majority of civil disputes are resolved by the conciliation boards. Conciliation boards do not hear criminal cases, and participation in their hearings is voluntary.

There are special courts that hear or process issues not covered by the District Courts:

The king has the right in the Council of State to pardon criminals after sentence has been passed. This right is seldom used and always by the elected government in the name of the King.

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