Impeachment (Norway)

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In Norway, impeachment, also known as the Constitutional Court of the Realm (Norwegian : Riksrett), is a judicial process with the power to convict Members of Parliament, 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 §§ 86 and 87. Parliament authorizes the impeachment process, which establishes a tribunal consisting of five members of the Supreme Court and six lay members appointed by the Parliament of Norway. Impeachment has been used eight times, the last case being held in 1927.

Norway constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northwestern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.

Norwegian language North Germanic language spoken in Norway

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties, and some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular, are very close. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. While the two Germanic languages with the greatest numbers of speakers, English and German, have close similarities with Norwegian, neither is mutually intelligible with it. Norwegian is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era.

Supreme Court of Norway supreme court

The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, which prescribes an independent judiciary. It is located in the capital Oslo. In addition to serving as the court of final appeal for civil and criminal cases, it can also rule whether the Cabinet has acted in accordance with Norwegian law and whether the Parliament has passed legislation consistent with the Constitution.

Contents

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 rights of the King 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, and parliament could dismiss a member of cabinet through a majority vote. [1] [ dubious – discuss ]

Christian August Selmer Norwegian politician

Christian August Selmer was a Norwegian lawyer and a magistrate. He served as a member of the Norwegian Parliament, Minister of Defense and Minister of Justice. He was Prime Minister of Norway between 1880 and 1884.

A veto is the power to unilaterally stop an official action, especially the enactment of legislation. A veto can be absolute, as for instance in the United Nations Security Council, whose permanent members can block any resolution, or it can be limited, as in the legislative process of the United States, where a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate will override a Presidential veto of legislation. A veto may give power only to stop changes, like the US legislative veto, or to also adopt them, like the legislative veto of the Indian President, which allows him to propose amendments to bills returned to the Parliament for reconsideration.

After the constitutional battle of 1884 was over, there was only one case, where Prime Minister Abraham Berge 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. [1] 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.

Abraham Berge Norwegian politician representing Venstre, the social liberal party, and later Frisinnede Venstre, a right-of-centre party

Abraham Theodor Berge was Prime Minister of Norway from 1923 to 1924. He was a teacher and civil servant who represented Venstre, the social liberal party, and later Frisinnede Venstre, a right-of-centre party.

Cases

There have been eight cases of impeachment: [1]

Person(s)PeriodChargesOutcome
Fredrik Gottschalk von Haxthausen 1814–16regarding having given incorrect information about the state of the army during the 1814 war, and thus possibly having caused a defeat in the warNot convicted
Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg 1821–22regarding the Ministry of Finance having done trade with two British trading houses that had gone bankruptNot convicted
Thomas Fasting 1821regarding having held two positions that had conflict of interestConvicted
Johan Collett 1827regarding three issues to not follow decisions made by the StortingNot convicted
Severin Løvenskiold 1836regarding the king's attempt to dissolve the StortingConvicted
Jørgen Herman Vogt 1845regarding not having followed the decisions of the Storting regarding custom ratesNot convicted
Christian August Selmer et al.1884regarding the king's right to veto changes to the constitutionConvicted
Abraham Berge
Odd S. Klingenberg
Christian F. Michelet
Cornelius Middelthon
Johan H. Rye Holmboe
Anders Venger
Karl Wilhelm Wefring 		1926–27regarding the government issuing secret state loans to a bankNot convicted

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. [2]

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway is the judicial leader of the Supreme Court of Norway.

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The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the legislature, the Storting, elected within a multi-party system. The judiciary is independent of the executive branch and the legislature.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Andenæs, Johs.; Fliflet, Arne (2006). Statsforfatningen i Norge (in Norwegian) (10th ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. ISBN   82-15-00989-1. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06.
  2. ↑ Storting (2004-06-18). "Dokument nr. 12:1 (2003–2004)" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2008-10-12.
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