Norway

• Author: Camilla Bernt
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716208328391
• Published date: 01 March 2009
• Date: 01 March 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

220 ANNALS, AAPSS, 622, March 2009

Representative litigation by associations, has a long his-

tory. A general class action was introduced as part of

comprehensive review of civil procedure in the Dispute

Act of 2005, in force from 2008, again giving standing

to class members and relevant public and private asso-

ciations. This is an opt-in procedure but the court may

order an opt-out approach. Costs considerations may

restrict activity to interest organizations and public

bodies

Keywords: Norwegian legal system; the Dispute Act

2005; active case management; class

action

1. Overview of the Norwegian

Legal System1

The Norwegian legal system is civil law but

has some common law features. The volume of

legislation is not very large, and it is generally

based on broad principles, largely leaving the

more detailed application of the principles to

the courts.2In some areas of law, for example,

the law of contract for commercial matters,

there is little legislation, and the courts fre-

quently base their verdicts on commercial cus-

tom. Thus, there is considerable room for a

doctrine of precedent.

Norway does not have separate federal and

state systems for the legislature or the courts. All

statutory law is enacted by the parliament

Stortinget and applies to the whole Norwegian

state territory. The court system has three

instances; district courts (seventy-three), courts

of appeal (six), and a Supreme Court.3There is

almost no specialization within the court system,

due to a broadly based consensus that specializa-

tion can cause judges to lose sight of the over-

riding principles of the legal system and make

the ties between judges and repeat players too

Norway

By

CAMILLA BERNT

Camilla Bernt is a faculty member at the University of

Bergen Faculty of Law.

DOI: 10.1177/0002716208328391