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Bergen District Court

Coordinates: 60°23′37″N 5°19′18″E / 60.393547°N 5.3216171°E / 60.393547; 5.3216171
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Bergen District Court
Bergen tingrett
Bergen Courthouse
Map
60°23′37″N 5°19′18″E / 60.393547°N 5.3216171°E / 60.393547; 5.3216171
Established1591
Dissolved26 April 2021
JurisdictionNordhordland
LocationBergen, Norway
Coordinates60°23′37″N 5°19′18″E / 60.393547°N 5.3216171°E / 60.393547; 5.3216171
Appeals toGulating Court of Appeal

Bergen District Court (Norwegian: Bergen tingrett) was a district court in Vestland county, Norway. The court was based in the city of Bergen at the Bergen Courthouse at Tårnplads 2 in Bergen. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the Nordhordland, Midhordland, and Voss regions in the county. This included the municipalities of Gulen, Fedje, Austrheim, Masfjorden, Modalen, Alver, Askøy, Øygarden, Osterøy, Vaksdal, Voss, Austevoll, Bjørnafjorden, Samnanger, and Bergen. Cases from this court could be appealed to Gulating Court of Appeal.[1]

The court was a court of first instance. Its judicial duties were mainly to settle criminal cases and to resolve civil litigation as well as bankruptcy. The administration and registration tasks of the court included death registration, issuing certain certificates, performing duties of a notary public, and officiating civil wedding ceremonies. Cases from this court were heard by a combination of professional judges and lay judges.[2]

Courthouse

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Plaque at the main entrance of Bergen Tinghus

Bergen Tinghus was designed by architect Egill Reimers[3] in a neoclassical style during 1933 and it is considered one of his main works. The brick building has 25 courtrooms covering six floors plus basement and loft. At the main entrance on Tårnplass, there are four granite statues representing the cardinal virtues: wisdom, justice, moderation and strength. The sculptures were designed by artists Nic Schiøll and Stinius Fredriksen.[4][5][6][7]

History

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The court was originally established in 1591 as the civil and criminal court for the city of Bergen. In 2006, this court was merged with the Bergen byfogdembete (city attorney's office) which added the authority for bankruptcy, probate, property and other types of cases. On 1 January 2017, the Nordhordland District Court was merged with this court, vastly expanding the area of its jurisdiction.[1] On 26 April 2021, the Bergen District Court was merged with the Hardanger District Court to create the new Hordaland District Court.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ny tingrett for Bergen og Nordhordland" (in Norwegian). Bergen tingrett.
  2. ^ Gisle, Jon, ed. (27 February 2022). "Tingrett". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  3. ^ Nils Anker. "Egill Reimers". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Bergen tinghus". Kunsthistorie. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Tinghuset". Bergen byleksikon. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  6. ^ Svein Aamold. "Nic Schiøll". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  7. ^ Even Hebbe Johnsrud. "Stinius Fredriksen". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Forskrift om inndelingen av rettskretser og lagdømmer". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). 12 April 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2022.