– Now we really get to strengthen the team, and we get to raise the issue internationally. This is going to be big, says Rune Halseth, chairman of the organization Nav-uprydningen.
On Friday, they held a press conference at the Grand Hotel in Oslo. The organization represents everyone affected by the social security scandal.
Three of the convicts, including Rune Halseth, have sued the state and are demanding compensation for the injustice they were subjected to. The trial was originally supposed to start this week, but has now been postponed until March.
One of the victims has also sued the state on behalf of all those affected. The court has not yet ruled on this class action. Until now, lawyer Bjørn Kvernberg has been the legal representative for the Nav clean-up and the victims who have sued the state.
Now the team around Kvernberg is being strengthened. The Nav clean-up has entered into a partnership with the law firm Nobel Baudenbacher, which has offices in Brussels and Zurich. Laura Melusine Baudenbacher and her father Carl Baudenbacher will now contribute to the legal process against the state.
President of the EFTA Court
Carl Baudenbacher is not just anyone. He was president of the EFTA Court from 2003 to 2017 and is one of Europe’s foremost experts on EEA law.
The EFTA Court’s main task is to resolve cases between the EU and the EFTA countries Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The Court also makes advisory statements on EEA legal issues when there is doubt as to how the law should be interpreted.
After the social security scandal became known, Baudenbacher directed harsh criticism at the Norwegian authorities.
In 2019, he wrote a column in VG, in which he came out harshly against the Norwegian authorities and the Government Attorney. Baudenbacher wrote that “the Nav scandal is the result of 20 years of opposition to the EEA, ESA and the EFTA Court”.
He believes that the government’s strategy has been to use the so-called leeway to avoid the EEA rules as far as possible and that this strategy increased the risk of committing an offence. During the press conference, he repeated this criticism.
Government lawyer Fredrik Sejersted has previously hit back at the criticism from Baudenbacher and denied that he has conducted systematic criticism of the EEA agreement and the EFTA institutions.
Carl Baudenbacher will help Rune Halseth and the other victims in the legal process against the Norwegian state. (Jens Marius Sæther)
– I think we have a good case
Baudenbacher is anything but impressed by the clean-up work that has been done after the scandal became known in October 2019. He reminded the assembly that the entire government in the Netherlands had to resign as a result of a social security scandal – a scandal he believes is less serious than the Norwegian one.
As far as is known, no one in Norway has had to resign as a result of the scandal.
Baudenbacher would not say who he believes is primarily responsible for the fact that the Norwegian authorities for years made thousands of illegal decisions and prosecuted people who stayed abroad while receiving a social security benefit.
He contented himself with saying that not enough has been done to find out who is guilty and that the court must now find out.
When asked by Dagsavisen if he thinks the victims will win their case, he replies:
– It is difficult to say, but we are optimistic – and I think we have a good case.
[ Trygdeskandalen: Klare for det store oppgjøret med staten ]
– Heartbreaking
Laura Melusine Baudenbacher made it clear that she is looking forward to working for the victims of the Social Security scandal. She is a high-profile business lawyer, who was recently appointed head of the Swiss Competition Authority.
At the press conference, she made an emotional speech and said that she is shocked by how the Norwegian authorities have treated thousands of social security recipients. She emphasized that it did not happen by chance, but that the injustice was systematic. In front of Dagsavisen, she describes the cases as “heartbreaking”.
Baudenbacher believes it is unsustainable that the victims, who have suffered great suffering, should not receive compensation.
– They not only deserve an apology, but also proper financial compensation.
Lawyer Laura Melusine Baudenbacher looks forward to working for the Nav victims in the future. (Jens Marius Sæther)
She cannot understand that the Norwegian authorities could continue with the wrongful practice for so long. In short, the social security scandal is about the fact that the Norwegian authorities did not make the necessary changes to Norwegian legislation either when the EEA Agreement entered into force in 1994 or when the EU’s new social security regulation became part of Norwegian law in 2012.
When the social security scandal burst into the public eye three years ago, the authorities had to admit that Nav had made thousands of illegal decisions over many years. Norwegian social security recipients who had the right to reside in other EEA countries had also been prosecuted and imprisoned.
The fact that many tens of people were wrongly convicted of social security fraud and that Nav made thousands of illegal decisions was quickly referred to as one of the biggest legal security scandals after the war.
– I am surprised that this could go on for so long without someone saying: “Wait a minute, there is a problem here”. You don’t need to be a lawyer to see that what happened was not fair, says Baudenbacher.
In addition to the Swiss lawyers, law professor Mads Andenæs has been brought in as an adviser for the Nav clean-up.
During the press conference, Andenæs said that the Norwegian authorities have not only violated EEA law, but also human rights and that the Nav cases may end up in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
– There was a decision from the UN Human Rights Committee two weeks ago which makes it clear that the Norwegian authorities have an obligation to pay compensation to people who are exposed to human rights violations. The case was about arbitrary imprisonment, which also applies to several of the victims in the Nav scandal, says Andenæs.
[ Går hardt ut mot egen regjering: – Jeg har stått i en sjeldent krevende situasjon ]
Classified report
The trial was actually supposed to start in the Oslo District Court on 8 December. The main reason why it was postponed is that those who have sued the state have not been given full access to a classified report – a report that many believe could have a major impact on whether the victims win with their lawsuit against the state.
If the victims are to succeed with their claim for compensation, they must prove that the state has acted grossly negligently.
The classified report is called “Export of welfare benefits” and was created by a so-called interministerial working group in 2014. The working group included representatives from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Government Attorney, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Children and Equality.
The working group was supposed to look at how Norway could find arrangements to limit social security exports, but what happened to this report is highly uncertain.
The government-appointed committee of inquiry wrote this about the 2014 report:
“In all chapters, it is emphasized that requirements for actual residence in Norway cannot be enforced in the EEA, and that the only way to limit payments is therefore to tighten up the use of activity requirements. In that context, the working group specifies that such activity requirements must be suitable and necessary to achieve the purpose they are pursuing.”
What is in the report goes to the heart of the social security scandal, and that is why the Nav clean-up has asked for it to be handed over before the trial starts, but so far they have only received a slanderous version. They have now asked the court for full transparency.
Professor Andenæs has already concluded.
– The 2014 report shows that the state has acted grossly negligently.
[ Nav-ofrene saksøker staten: – De ber oss nærmest om å gå til rettsak ]
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