Will restore several old district courts

This will be presented in the revised national budget next week, Aftenposten is informed.

It started as a relatively simple matter for the Støre government.

Both Ap and Sp were strongly opposed the court reform the court reform Reform of the court structure in Norway, where the number of district courts, among other things, was to be reduced from 60 to 23. The Solberg government introduced in its time. They therefore jointly agreed to reverse it when they formed a government in 2021.

Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) promised to scrap it quickly.

But that didn’t happen. A proposal to reverse was sent for consultation, but the matter has been stalled in the government since the consultation deadline expired in April 2022.

One of the reasons for that is that APS’s eagerness to restore the old court structure has died down, as Aftenposten reported last summer.

But now something is happening.

Must restore old district courts

The Ministry of Justice will not say anything to Aftenposten about progress towards reversing the court reform.

– We have received a question from the Storting about this, and we must answer the Storting before we answer the media, writes communications adviser Merete Romestrand in an email.

But several sources tell Aftenposten that Ap and Sp have been in negotiations to restore former district courts in the districts. The parties must now agree that 5 old district courts will be restored. There will be an increase of 22 per cent from the current 23 district courts.

This was the status after a negotiation meeting on Monday this week. Aftenposten is not aware of whether the negotiations have finally ended.

The reversal will, according to the plan, be part of the government’s proposal for a revised national budget, which will be presented on Tuesday 14 May.

According to Aftenposten’s information, Sp would restore more and Ap far fewer than what the parties have now agreed to.

At the same time, the Court Administration (DA) will receive more money. The police are also likely to receive a sum of NOK 200 to 300 million to fight gang crime, Aftenposten has been informed.

Justice Minister Mehl has personally participated in the negotiations, according to Aftenposten’s knowledge.

Ap is concerned that five is a relatively modest number – compared to the 37 district courts that had to be restored for a full reversal.

In parts of Ap, there is nevertheless strong dissatisfaction that this is happening now.

Professional resistance to reversal

The government’s promised reversal of the court reform has been met with great professional opposition.

The magistrates from the 23 new district courts have unanimously asked the government to keep the reform. Former children’s ombudsman Inga Bejer Engh has also warned against reversal.

In addition, the Court Administration (DA) has estimated in 2021 that a reversal could cost over NOK 75 million and at the same time increase the annual expenses by NOK 37 million.

The court administration (DA) has been opposed to reversing the reform throughout.

Last year, the Labor Party’s national meeting adopted a new policy for the organization of the courts. Here it is stated that, among other things, Labor will take the following into account for “any changes in the court structure”:

• Legal security of the individual
• Professionally strong environments
• Fast and efficient case processing

– If new, smaller courts are to be established, it will lead to slower processing times, significantly more expensive operations and it will weaken the professional environment, said Court Administration director Sven Marius Urke to Aftenposten last year.