Statistics and procedure

The Ministry of Justice, supported by the Storting, has specified objectives for how long court proceedings should take, expressed as norms for the longest average period for proceedings of criminal cases and civil cases respectively. For the courts of appeal, the requirement for criminal cases is three months from when the case came in until judgement is delivered. For civil cases, the corresponding requirement is six months.

In recent years, Frostating Court of Appeal has succeeded in complying with the norms for the two main groups of cases, with only minor variances.

Some priorities are imposed by law. For example, in the court of appeal, a criminal case in which the defendant has been remanded in custody must be scheduled for hearing within 8 weeks. As a result, other criminal cases may take more time. Sometimes defendants, parties or their advocates cause postponements or delays that the court of appeal must accept.

In general, considerable pressure is placed on all participants to avoid changes in listings for hearing. We operate on the basis that focused efforts to keep the period for court proceedings within the given norms strengthens confidence in the Court  as an up-to-date authority for dispute resolution.

Types of cases – key figures

Criminal cases:
In 2009, we received 293 appeals in criminal matters. Of these, 31 appeals were heard as jury cases, 69 as cases with lay judges and 39 as cases with professional judges. (The latter group consists of cases in which the appeal does not concern the question of guilt). For the other cases, either leave to appeal was not granted or the appeals were decided in other ways without an appeal hearing.

The number of criminal interlocutory appeals (mainly related to remand in custody) heard in 2009 was 291.

Civil cases:
In 2009, we received 207 appeals in civil cases. In the same year, 160 cases were concluded in the Court of Appeal, of which about half were determined by judgement. In the other cases, either an in-court settlement was entered into or the cases lapsed for other reasons.

In the same year, the Court of Appeal received 12 cases as the court of the first instance. These were decisions of the National Insurance Court that were brought before the courts.

The number of incoming civil interlocutory appeals in 2009 was 139.

The number of re-trials of judgements by appraisement institutions received and concluded in 2009 was 4.


Finances – Key figures

In 2009, the Court of Appeal had a total budget appropriation of NOK 28.6 million, of which NOK 24,4 million was allocated to salaries and employers' national insurance contributions. From other budgets, the Court of Appeal allocated NOK 14 million to defence lawyers, lay judges and the like in criminal cases, and NOK 4,3 million for assistance by way of representation in civil cases, that is, expenses for lawyers, experts, etc.

More information about court proceedings and finances is provided in the annual report for the Court of Appeal (in Norwegian).