The Norwegian court system
An overview
Introduction
Norway's ordinary court system has a three-tier, hierarchical structure, comprising district courts at first instance, courts of appeal as ordinary appellate courts and the Supreme Court at the apex. In addition to the three main tiers, in civil law cases there are also mediation bodies with limited jurisdiction – the conciliation Boards seated in almost each municipality – and special courts for land consolidation and labour cases.
The district courts
The district courts are the ordinary courts of first instance in the Norwegian court system. There are 23 district courts in Norway as per March 2022, each having jurisdiction over one or more municipalities. The jurisdiction is full and unlimited in the sense that the district courts may rule on any matter unless specifically exempted by law.
The case is decided after an oral main hearing attended by representatives of the disputing parties, their legal counsel and one judge. If requested by one of the parties, or deemed necessary by the court, the judge shall be accompanied by two lay judges, who are experts in the field if required. A district court ruling may be appealed to the court of appeal.
District courts
The courts of appeal
The courts of appeal decide on appeals against rulings of the district courts seated within the respective court of appeal's circuit. There are six courts of appeal in Norway.
Appeals against interlocutory orders and decisions are normally decided on written submissions only. Appeals against judgments are, on the other hand, usually subject to an oral hearing. The appeal hearing is attended by representatives of the parties, their legal counsel, and the judges. Three professional judges normally preside over the oral proceedings, together with expert lay judges if special technical or other insight is required or if requested by the parties.
A court of appeal ruling may be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Courts of appeal
The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is the highest court in Norway and has nationwide jurisdiction. Unlike some other jurisdictions, the Norwegian Supreme Court operates as one single court in all cases - it is not divided into separate chambers for e.g. commercial disputes and administrative disputes. Cases are usually heard by five justices. Cases of particular importance are heard by eleven justices, or in plenary by all 20 Supreme Court justices.
The main role of the Supreme Court is to ensure clarification and development of the law through decisions on matters of principle or significant public importance. Appeals to the Supreme Court therefore require leave.
Supreme Court
The conciliation boards
The conciliation boards are mediation bodies with limited jurisdiction. Their principal role is to quickly and inexpensively resolve disputes over small claims (claims of less than NOK 200,000) through mediation. The boards are comprised of lay persons deemed qualified to mediate.
An application for conciliation proceedings is the mandatory first step of small claims proceedings, and is also required for cases concerning larger claims if one of the parties to the dispute is not represented by legal counsel when legal action is brought. For that reason, the institution of legal proceedings before the ordinary courts in major commercial disputes is sometimes delayed for several months pending a conciliation board ruling on whether to refer it for mediation or dismiss the case, leaving it to the parties to bring the case to the district court.
Conciliation boards
