Noruega - Autoridade Central (Art. 2) e informações práticas

Central Authority(ies):

The Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority

Contact details:

Address:

Regular Postal address:
The Norwegian Civil Affairs Authority
(Statens sivilrettsforvaltning)
Address: P.O. Box 2105 Vika
0125 OSLO
NORWAY

Delivery address (for documents sent by courier):
The Norwegian Civil Affairs Authorities
Holbergs gate 1
0166 OSLO
NORWAY

Telephone: +47 22 99 13 25
Fax: -
E-mail: post@sivilrett.no
General website: www.sivilrett.no
Contact person:  
Languages spoken by staff: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English.

 

Practical Information

Blocking statutes: Norwegian legislation does not have any blocking statute for the purpose of preventing foreign applicants from obtaining certain types of evidence.The Norwegian Civil Procedure Code contains a general provision (Section 22-3) that prohibits obtaining information which is protected by an obligation to maintain secrecy as provided by law.

Chapter I
(Letters of Requests)

Transmission of Letters of Requests: Letters of Request are sent directly from a judicial authority in the requesting State to the Central Authority of the requested State.
Authority responsible for informing of the time and place of the execution of Letter of Request
(Art. 7):
Judicial authority competent to execute the request.
Presence of judicial personnel at the execution of the Letter of Request (Art. 8): No declaration of applicability.
Privileges and duties existing under the law of States other than the State of origin and the State of execution
(Art. 11):
No declaration of applicability.
Translation requirements
Arts 4(2) and 33):
Accepts Letters of Requests written in or translated into Norwegian, English, Danish and Swedish.By accepting Letters of Request in another language than the Norwegian, the Kingdom of Norway does not undertake to execute the request, or transmit the evidence thus obtained in this other language; nor to have translated the document which establish to execution of the letter of request. See declarations.
Costs relating to execution of the Letters of Request
(Arts 14(2)(3) and 26):
Norway has not sought reimbursement of costs under Art. 26.
Time for execution: Between 3 and 5 months approximately.
Pre-trial discovery of documents
Art. 23):
Letter of Request may be executed subject to certain conditions (qualified execution).
Information about domestic rules on the taking of evidence:  Norwegian Civil Procedure Code (§ 28-1 Securing of evidence § 28-2 Conditions for securing evidence).
Court Administration Act Sections 46, 47, 48, 48a and 49.

Witness examination under Chapter I

Should Letters of Request include specific questions to be used during witness examination or only a list of matters to be addressed? A list of matters to be addressed is sufficient.
Is it a public or private hearing? Public hearing.
Do the judicial authorities "blue-pencil" Letters of Requests (i.e. rephrase, restructure and / or strike out objectionable questions or offensive wording so that a Letter of Request may be executed under the laws of the requested State)? Yes.
Is the witness provided in advance with a copy of the questions / matters to be addressed as contained in the Letter of Request? No.
Are documents produced by the witness authenticated by the court? No information available.
Is an oath generally administered to the witness? Yes.
Can the witness be made subject to further examination and recall? Yes.
Are there sanctions for non-appearance of witness? The court may order that a witness, who fails to appear in court without a valid reason, be brought before the court. The court may also impose a fine.
Must interpreters who assist with the witness examination be court-certified? Yes.
How is the testimony transcribed?

Statements made by the parties, witnesses or experts outside of the main hearing, for example to secure evidence, shall be entered into the court record and then read aloud for confirmation.Any other statements by the parties, witnesses and experts shall be entered into the court record if the court deems appropriate.

The court may otherwise decide to use audio or video recording.

Chapter II
(Taking of evidence by diplomatic officers, consular agents and commissioners)

Article 15 Applicable. See competent authority.
Article 16 Applicable. See competent authority.
Article 17 Applicable. See competent authority.
Article 18 No declaration of applicability (i.e., a diplomatic officer, consular agent or commissioner may not apply for appropriate assistance to obtain evidence by compulsion).

Taking of evidence by video-links
(under either chapter)

Chapter I

Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? No. We do not consider that there are legal obstacles to the taking of evidence by video-link under Chapter I of the Evidence Convention. In this regard, we emphasise that the request must not be contrary to Norwegian law. In our opinion, the Convention does not oblige member states to execute such requests. Thus any such request will be executed on a voluntary basis.
Technology used: We have equipment that allows us to send evidence taken by encrypted video-link.
Level of interpretation required: No information available.
Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: No information available.
Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? No information available.
Who pays for the interpretation? No information available.
How would a request for evidence be handled if witness not willing? No information available.

Chapter II

Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? No.
Technology used: No information available. 
Level of interpretation required: No information available.
Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: No information available.
Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? No information available.
Who pays for the interpretation? No information available.

Other Information

Bilateral or multilateral agreements A multilateral convention on judicial co-operation was concluded between: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden on 26 April 1974.

Bilateral conventions on judicial co-operation: Austria, Germany and United Kingdom.
Useful links: Guide on Letters Rogatory - Ministry of Justice (in Norwegian only)
Competent authorities (Art. 8, 15, 16, 17) Art. 8: See here.
Art. 15, 16, 17: See here.
Additional authorities (Art. 24)  

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