The Constitution of Norway, of 17 May 1814

Contents
The Constitution of Norway, of 17 May 1814
A. Form of government and religion.
B. The executive power, the King and the Royal Family.
C. Rights of citizens and the legislative power.
D. The judicial power.
E. General provisions.

The following translation was made after the Constitutional modification of 23 November 1978. The modifications of 17 January 1980 and later are in other words not included in this version. The version as of 1978 is published here because it shows the articles relevant to the Royal House before the modifications of 29 May 1990 No. 550, which introduced full cognatic succession.

The Constitution of Norway, of 17 May 1814

Consolidated version as of 1978

A. Form of government and religion.

Art. 1. The Kingdom of Norway is a free, independent, indivisible, and inalienable realm. Its form of government is a limited and hereditary monarchy.

Art. 2. All inhabitants of the Kingdom shall have the right to free exercise of their religion.

The Evangelical-Lutheran religion shall remain the official religion of the State. The inhabitants professing it shall be bound to bring up their children in the same.

B. The executive power, the King, and the Royal Family.

Art. 3. The executive power is vested in the King.

Art. 4. The King shall at all times profess the Evangelical-Lutheran religion, and uphold and protect the same.

Art. 5. The King's person shall be sacred. He cannot be censured or accused. The responsibility shall rest with his Council.

Art. 6. The order of succession shall be lineal and agnatic, so that only males, born in lawful wedlock, may succeed males, and the nearer line shall take precedence over the more remote and the elder in the line over the younger.

An unborn child shall also be included among those entitled to the succession and shall immediately take his proper place in the line of succession as soon as he is born into the world after the death of his father.

When a Prince entitled to succeed to the Crown of Norway is born, his name and the time of his birth shall be notified to the first subsequent Storting and be entered in the record of its proceedings.

Art. 7. If there is no Prince entitled to the succession, the King may propose his successor to the Storting, which has the right to make choice if the King's nominee is not acceptable.

Art. 8. The age of majority of the King shall be stipulated by law.

As soon as the King has attained the age of majority fixed by law, he shall make a public declaration that he is of age.

Art. 9. As soon as the King, being of full age, accedes to the government, he shall take the following oath before the Storting: "I promise and swear that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and Laws, so help me God, the Almighty and Omniscient!"

If the Storting is not in session at the time, the oath shall be made in writing in the Council of State and be repeated solemnly by the King at the first subsequent Storting.

Art. 10. (Repealed.)

Art. 11. The King shall reside in the Kingdom and may not, without the consent of the Storting, remain outside the Kingdom for more than six months at a time, otherwise he shall have forfeited, for his person, the right to the Crown.

The King may not accept any other crown or government without the consent of the Storting, for which two thirds of the votes are required.

Art. 12. The King shall himself choose a Council from among Norwegian citizens who are entitled to vote. This Council shall consist of a Prime Minister and at least seven other Members.

More than half the number of Members of the Council of State shall profess the official religion of the State.

The King shall apportion the business among the Members of the Council of State, as he deems appropriate. Under extraordinary circumstances, the King may summon, apart from the ordinary Members of the Council of State, other Norwegian citizens, but no members of the Storting, to take a seat in the Council of State.

Husband and wife, parent and child, or two siblings may not, at the same time, have a seat in the Council of State.

Art. 13. During his travels within the Kingdom, the King may delegate the government to the Council of State. The Council of State shall conduct the government in the King's name and on his behalf. It shall scrupulously observe the provisions of this Constitution as well as such particular directives in pursuance thereof as the King may instruct.

The matters of business shall be decided by voting, wherein in the event of the votes being equal, the Prime Minister, or in his absence, the highest-ranking Member of the Council of State who is present, shall have two votes.

The Council of State shall make a report to the King of the matters of business which it thus decides.

Art. 14. The King may appoint State Secretaries to assist Members of the Council of State with their duties outside the Council of State. Each State Secretary shall act on behalf of the Member of the Council of State to whom he is attached to the extent determined by that Member.

Art. 15. (Repealed.)

Art. 16. The King shall give directions for all public church services and public worship, all meetings and assemblies dealing with religious matters, and shall ensure that the public teachers of religion follow the rules prescribed for them.

Art. 17. The King may issue and repeal ordinances relating to commerce, tariffs, trade and industry, and the police; they must not, however, be at variance with the Constitution or the laws passed (as hereinafter prescribed in Articles 77, 78 and 79) by the Storting. They shall be in force provisionally until the next Storting.

Art. 18. The King shall, as a general rule, cause the taxes and duties imposed by the Storting to be collected.

Art. 19. The King shall ensure that the property belonging to the State, as well as its privileges and monopolies, are utilized and administered in the manner determined by the Storting and in the best interest of the general public.

Art. 20. The King shall have the right in the Council of State to pardon criminals after sentence has been passed. The criminal shall have the choice of accepting the King's Grace or submitting to the penalty imposed.

In proceedings which the Odelsting causes to be brought before the Constitutional Court of the Realm, no pardon other than exemption from the death penalty may be granted.

Art. 21. The King shall choose and appoint, after consultation with his Council of State, all senior civil, ecclesiastical, and military officials. Such officials shall swear or, if by law exempted from taking the oath, solemnly declare obedience and allegiance to the Constitution and the King. The Royal Princes must not hold senior civil posts.

Art. 22. The Prime Minister and the other Members of the Council of State, together with the State Secretaries may be dismissed by the King without any prior court judgment, after he has heard the opinion of the Council of State on the subject. The same applies to senior officials employed in government offices or in the diplomatic or the consular service, to highest-ranking civil and ecclesiastical officials, commanders of regiments and other military formations, commandants of forts and officers commanding warships. Whether pensions should be granted to senior officials thus dismissed shall be determined by the next Storting. In the interval they shall receive two thirds of their previous pay.

Other senior officials may only be suspended by the King, whereupon legal proceedings should be instituted against them, but, unless judgment has been pronounced against them, they may neither be dismissed nor transferred against their will.

All senior officials may, without any prior court judgment, be discharged from office upon attaining the statutory age-limit.

Art. 23. The King may award honours, upon whomever he pleases, as a reward for distinguished services, and this shall be announced publicly; but not any rank or title other than such as each office carries with it. The honour exempts no one from the common duties and burdens of citizens, nor does it carry with it any preferential admission to senior official posts in the State. Senior officials honourably discharged from office may retain the title and rank of their office. This does not apply, however, to Members of the Council of State or the State Secretaries.

No personal, or mixed, hereditary privileges may henceforth be granted to any one.

Art. 24. The King shall choose and dismiss, at his own discretion, his Royal Household and Court Officials.

Art. 25. The King shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Navy of the Kingdom. These forces may not be increased or reduced without the consent of the Storting. They may not be transferred to the service of foreign powers, nor may the military forces of any foreign powers, except auxiliary forces against hostile attack, be brought into the Kingdom without the consent of the Storting.

The territorial contingent (landevern) and the other troops which cannot be classed as troops of the line may never, without the consent of the Storting, be employed outside the borders of the Kingdom.

Art. 26. The King shall have the right to assemble troops, to enter into war in the defence of the Kingdom and to make peace, to conclude and denounce conventions, to send and to receive diplomatic envoys.

Treaties on matters of special importance, and, in all cases, treaties whose implementation, according to the Constitution, necessitates a new law or a decision by the Storting, shall not be binding until the Storting has given its consent thereto.

Art. 27. All Members of the Council of State shall, unless lawfully absent, attend the Council of State and no decision may be taken there unless more than half the number of Members are present.

Members of the Council of State who do not profess the official religion of the State shall not take part in proceedings on matters which concern the State Church.

Art. 28. Proposals regarding appointments to senior officials posts and other matters of importance shall be presented in the Council of State by the Member under whose department they come, and such matters shall be dealt with by him in accordance with the decision adopted in the Council of State. Matters strictly relating to military command may, however, to the extent determined by the King, be excepted from proceedings in the Council of State.

Art. 29. If a Member of the Council of State is lawfully prevented from attending the meeting and from presenting the matters coming under his department, these may be presented by another Member temporarily appointed by the King for the purpose.

If so many Members are lawfully prevented from attending that not more than half of the stipulated number are present, the requisite number of other men or women shall be temporarily appointed to take a seat in the Council of State.

Art. 30. All the proceedings of the Council of State shall be entered in its records. Diplomatic matters which the Council of State has decided to keep secret shall be entered in a special record. The same applies to matters relating to military command which the Council of State has decided to keep secret.

Everyone who has a seat in the Council of State has the duty frankly to express his opinion, to which the King is bound to listen. But it rests with the King to make a decision according to his own judgment.

If any Member of the Council of State is of the opinion that the King's decision conflicts with the form of government or the laws of the Kingdom, or is clearly prejudicial to the Kingdom, it is his duty to make strong remonstrances against it, and also to have his opinion entered in the record. A Member who has not thus protested shall be deemed to have been in agreement with the King, and shall be answerable in such manner as may be subsequently decided, and may be impeached by the Odelsting before the Constitutional Court of the Realm.

Art. 31. All decisions drawn up by the King shall, in order to become valid, be counter-signed. Decisions relating to military command shall be countersigned by the person who has presented the matter, while other decisions shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister or, if he has not been present, by the highest-ranking Member of the Council of State who is present.

Art. 32. The decisions adopted by the Government during the absence of the King shall be drawn up in the King's name and be signed by the Council of State.

Art. 33. (Repealed.)

Art. 34. The nearest heir to the Throne, if he is the son of the reigning King, shall bear the title of Crown Prince. The other persons entitled to succeed to the Throne shall be called Princes, and the daughters of the Royal House, Princesses.

Art. 35. As soon as the heir to the Throne has completed his eighteenth year, he is entitled to take a seat in the Council of State, but without vote or responsibility.

Art. 36. A Prince of the Royal House may not marry without the consent of the King. Nor may he accept any other crown or government without the consent of the King and the Storting; to obtain the consent of the Storting, two thirds of the votes are required.

If he acts contrary to this rule, he and his descendants forfeit their right to the Throne of Norway.

Art. 37. The Royal Princes and Princesses shall not be answerable personally to any other than the King, or to such person as he may appoint to sit in judgment on t hem.

Art. 38. (Repealed.)

Art. 39. If the King dies and the heir to the Throne is still under age, the Council of State shall immediately summon the Storting.

Art. 40. Until the Storting has assembled and made provisions for the Government during the minority of the King, the Council of State shall be responsible for the administration of the Kingdom in accordance with the Constitution.

Art. 41. If the King is absent from the Kingdom, and not in the field, or if he is so ill that he cannot attend to the Government, the Prince next entitled to succeed to the Throne shall conduct the Government as being temporarily invested with the Royal powers, provided that he has attained the age stipulated for the King's majority. If this is not the case, the Council of State shall be responsible for the administration of the Kingdom.

Art. 42. (Repealed.)

Art. 43. The choice of trustees to conduct the Government on behalf of the King during his minority shall be undertaken by the Storting.

Art. 44. The Prince who, in the cases mentioned in Art. 41, conducts the Government shall make the following oath in writing before the Storting: "I promise and swear that I will conduct the Government in accordance with the Constitution and the Laws, so help me God, the Almighty and Omniscient!"

If the Storting is not in session at the time, the oath shall be made in the Council of State and later be presented to the next Storting.

The Prince who has once made the oath shall not repeat it later.

Art. 45. As soon as their conduct of the Government has ceased, the trustees shall submit to the King and the Storting an account of the same.

Art. 46. If the persons concerned fail to summon the Storting immediately in accordance with Art. 39, it becomes the unconditional duty of the Supreme Court, as soon as four weeks have elapsed, to arrange for the Storting to be summoned.

Art. 47. The supervision of the education of the King during his minority shall, if his father has left no written directions, be determined by the Storting.

Art. 48. If the male line of the Royal Family has died out, and no successor to the Throne has been designated, then a new King shall be chosen by the Storting. Meanwhile, the executive power shall be exercised in accordance with Art. 40.

C. Rights of citizens and the legislative power.

Art. 49. The people shall exercise the legislative power through the Storting, which shall consist of two divisions, the Lagting and the Odelsting.

Art. 50. Those entitled to vote are Norwegian citizens, men and women, who have completed their 18th year at the latest during the year when the election is held.

The extent, however, to which Norwegian subjects who on election day are resident outside the Kingdom but who satisfy the above-mentioned conditions, are entitled to vote shall be determined by law.

Art. 51. The rules concerning the electoral registers and the registration of persons entitled to vote shall be determined by law.

Art. 52. (Repealed.)

Art. 53. The right to vote shall be lost in the case of any person who:

1. is sentenced for criminal offences, subject to such provisions as may be laid down by law;
   
2. enters the service of a foreign power without the consent of the Government;
   
4. is found guilty of having bought votes, of having sold his own vote, or of having voted at more than one poll;
   
5. is declared incapable of managing his own affairs.
   

Art. 54. Elections shall be held every four years. They shall be completed by the end of September.

Art. 55. Elections shall be conducted in such a manner as shall be determined by law. Disputes as to the right to vote shall be settled by the returning officials, whose decision may be appealed to the Storting.

Art. 56. (Repealed.)

Art. 57. The number of representatives to be elected to the Storting shall be one hundred and fifty-five.

Art. 58. Each county shall be a constituency.
The distribution of representatives to the Storting from the Kingdom's constituencies shall be as follows: 8 shall be elected from the county of Østfold, 15 from the city of Oslo, 10 from the county of Akershus, 8 from the county of Hedmark, 7 from the county of Opland, 7 from the county of Buskerud, 7 from the county of Vestfold, 6 from the county of Telemark, 4 from the county of Aust-Agder, 5 from the county of Vest-Agder, 10 from the county of Rogaland, 15 from the county of Hordaland, 5 from the county of Sogn og Fjordane, 10 from the county of Møre og Romsdal, 10 from the county of Sør-Trøndelag, 6 from the county of Nord-Trøndelag, 12 from the county of Nordland, 6 from the county of Troms and 4 from the county of Finnmark.

Art. 59. Each municipality shall constitute a separate polling district.

The elections shall be held separately for each polling district. At the elections the votes shall be east directly for the representatives to the Storting, together with their proxies, for the entire constituency.

The system of election is by proportional representation. The rules to be applied hereto, and to the procedures in respect of the elections otherwise, shall be determined by law, subject to the relevant provisions laid down in the Constitution.

Art. 60. Whether and in what manner those entitled to vote may deliver their ballot papers, without personal attendance at the polls, shall be determined by law.

Art. 61. No one shall be eligible for election as a representative to the Storting unless he has resided for 10 years in the Kingdom, as well as being entitled to vote.

Art. 62. The officials who are employed in government departments, although with the exception of the State Secretaries, as well as officials and pensioners of the Court, may not be elected as representatives to the Storting. The same applies to officials employed in the diplomatic or consular services.

Members of the Council of State may not attend meetings of the Storting as representatives while holding a seat in the Council of State. Nor may the State Secretaries attend as representatives while holding such office.

Art. 63. It shall be the duty of anyone who is elected as a representative to accept the election, unless elected outside the constituency in which he is entitled to vote or prevented from attending for reasons which the Storting deems valid. If anyone has been present as a representative at all the ordinary sessions of the Storting following one election, he shall not be obliged to accept election at the next election for the Storting.

If anyone is elected as a representative without being bound to accept such election, he must, within the time and in the manner prescribed by law, make a declaration stating whether or not he accepts election.

The time within which, as well as the manner in which, a person elected as representative for two or more constituencies shall state which election he will accept, shall likewise be determined by law.

Art. 64. The representatives elected shall be furnished with credentials, the validity of which shall be adjudged by the Storting.

Art. 65. Every representative and proxy called to the Storting shall be entitled to receive from the Treasury such reimbursement as is prescribed by law for travelling expenses to and from the Storting, and from the Storting to his home and back again during vacations lasting at least fourteen days, as well as for expenses for medical treatment in the case of illness.

He shall further be entitled to remuneration, likewise prescribed by law, for attending the Storting.

Art. 66. Representatives on their way to and from the Storting, as well as during their attendance there, shall be exempt from personal arrest unless they are apprehended in public crimes, nor may they be called to account outside the meetings of the Storting for opinions expressed there. Every representative shall be bound to conform to the rules of procedure therein adopted.

Art. 67. The representatives elected in the aforesaid manner shall constitute the Storting of the Kingdom of Norway.

Art. 68. The Storting shall as a rule assemble on the first weekday in October every year in the capital of the Kingdom, unless the King, by reason of extraordinary circumstances, such as a hostile invasion or infectious disease, designates another town in the Kingdom. If so, such a decision must by publicly announced in good time.

Art. 69. Under extraordinary circumstances the King shall have the right to summon the Storting at a time other than the ordinary.

Art. 70. An extraordinary session of the Storting of this nature may be prorogued by the King at his discretion.

Art. 71. The members of the Storting shall act as such for four successive years, both in extraordinary and in ordinary sessions of the Storting held during that period.

Art. 72. If an extraordinary session of the Storting is being held at the time when an ordinary session of the Storting is due to open, the former shall be prorogued before the latter assembles.

Art. 73. The Storting shall nominate from among its members one fourth to constitute the Lagting; the remaining three fourths shall constitute the Odelsting. This nomination shall take place at the first ordinary session of the Storting that assembles after a new general election, whereafter the Lagting shall remain unchanged at all assembled sessions of the Storting after the same election, except in so far as any vacancy which may occur among its members has to be filled by special nomination.

Each Ting shall hold its meetings separately and nominate its own President and Secretary. Neither Ting may hold a meeting unless at least one half of its members are present. However, Bills concerning amendments to the Constitution may not be dealt with unless at least two thirds of the members of the Storting are present.

Art. 74. As soon as the Storting is constituted, the King, or whoever he appoints for the purpose, shall open its proceedings with a speech, in which he shall inform it of the state of the Kingdom and of the issues to which he particularly desires to call the attention of the Storting. No deliberations may take place in the presence of the King.

When the proceedings of the Storting have been opened, the Prime Minister and the Members of the Council of State have the right to attend the Storting, as well as both of its divisions, and, like the members of the Storting, although without being entitled to vote, to take part in the current proceedings insofar as these are conducted in open session, while in the case of matters which are discussed in closed session only insofar as is permitted by the Ting concerned.

Art. 75. The duties and prerogatives of the Storting are:

1. to enact and repeal laws; to impose taxes, duties, customs, and other public charges, which shall not, however, remain operative beyond 31 December of the following year, unless expressly renewed by a new ordinary Storting;
2. to float loans on the credit of the Kingdom;
3. to supervise the finances of the Kingdom;
4. to appropriate the sums of money necessary to meet government expenditure;
5. to decide how much shall be paid annually to the King for the Royal Household, and to determine the appanage of the Royal family, which may not, however, consist of real property;
6. to have submitted to it the records of the Council of State, and all public reports and documents;
7. to have communicated to it the conventions and treaties which the King, on behalf of the State, has concluded with foreign powers;
8. to have the power to summon anyone, the King and the Royal family excepted, to meet before it in matters of State; this exception does not, however, apply to the Royal Princes if they hold any public of f ice;
9. to revise the lists of salaries and pensions temporarily granted, and to make therein such alterations as it deems necessary;
11. to appoint five auditors, who shall annually examine the accounts of the State and publish extracts of the same in print, for which purpose the accounts shall be delivered to the auditors within six months of the expiration of the year for which the appropriations of the Storting have been made, and to adopt provisions concerning the organization of an office to audit the accounts of the government accounting officials;
12. to naturalize aliens.
    

Art. 76. Every Bill shall first be introduced in the Odelsting, either by one of its own members, or by the Government through a Member of the Council of State.

If the Bill is passed, it shall be sent to the Lagting, which either approves or rejects it, and in the latter case sends it back with comments appended. These are taken into consideration by the Odelsting, which either drops the Bill or again sends it to the Lagting, with or without alteration.

When a Bill from the Odelsting has twice been presented to the Lagting and has been a second time rejected by it, the Storting shall meet in plenary session, and the Bill is then decided by a majority of two thirds of the votes. Between each such deliberation there shall be an interval of at least three days.

Art. 77. When a Bill passed by the Odelsting has been approved by the Lagting or by the Storting in plenary session, it shall be sent to the King, with a request that it may receive the Royal Assent.

Art. 78. If the King assents to the Bill, he shall attach to it his signature, whereby it becomes law.

If he does not assent to it, he shall return it to the Odelsting, with the statement that he does not for the time being find it expedient to give his Assent to it. In that case the Bill must not again be submitted to the King by the Storting then assembled.

Art. 79. If a Bill has been passed unaltered by two ordinary sessions of the Storting, constituted after two separate successive elections and separated from each other by at least two intervening ordinary sessions of the Storting, without an amended Bill having been passed by any Storting in the period between the first and the last passing, and it is then submitted to the King with the petition that His Majesty shall not refuse his Assent to a Bill which, after the most mature deliberation, the Storting considers to be for the benefit of the country, it shall become law, even if the Royal Assent is not accorded before the Storting dissolves.

Art. 80. The Storting shall remain in session as long as it deems this necessary. When, having concluded its business, it is prorogued by the King, he shall at the same time communicate his decision with regard to the Bills that have not already been decided (cf. Articles 77–79), either by confirming or rejecting them. All those which he does not expressly approve are regarded as having been rejected by him.

Art. 81. All Acts (with the exception of those mentioned in Art. 79) shall be drawn up in the name of the King, under the seal of the Kingdom of Norway, and in the following terms: "We, X, make it publicly known that the decision of the Storting of the date stated has been laid before Us: (here follows the decision). In consequence whereof We have assented to and confirmed, as We hereby assent to and confirm the same as a Law under Our hand and the Seal of the Kingdom."

Art. 82. (Repealed.)

Art. 83. The Storting may obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court on questions of law.

Art. 84. The Storting shall meet in open session, and its proceedings shall be published in print, except in those cases in which a majority decides to the contrary.

Art. 85. Any person who obeys an order, the purpose of which is to disturb the liberty and the security of the Storting, shall thereby be guilty of treason against the Country.

D. The judicial power.

Art. 86. The Constitutional Court of the Realm shall pronounce judgment in the first and last instance in such proceedings as are brought by the Odelsting against Members of the Council of State, or of the Supreme Court of Justice or of the Storting for criminal offences which they may have committed in the capacity of their office.

The particular rules concerning impeachment by the Odelsting, according to this Article, shall be determined by law. The period within which impeachment proceedings may be instituted in the Constitutional Court of the Realm shall not, however, be set at less than fifteen years.

The permanent members of the Lagting and the permanently appointed members of the Supreme Court shall be judges of the Constitutional Court of the Realm. The provisions contained in Art. 87 shall apply to the composition of the Constitutional Court of the Realm in each particular case. In the Constitutional Court of the Realm the President of the Lagting shall take the chair.

A person sitting in the Constitutional Court of the Realm as a member of the Lagting shall not resign from the Court if the period for which he is elected as a representative to the Storting should expire before the Constitutional Court of the Realm has concluded the trial of the case. If he ceases for any other reason to be a member of the Storting, he shall resign as a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Realm. The same applies if a justice of the Supreme Court, who is a member of the Constitutional Court of the Realm, retires as a member of the Supreme Court.

Art. 87. The accused and the person acting on behalf of the Odelsting in the proceedings have the right to challenge as many members of the Lagting and of the Supreme Court, as will leave remaining fourteen members of the Lagting and seven members of the Supreme Court as judges in the Constitutional Court of the Realm. Each party in the proceedings has the right to challenge an equal number of the members of the Lagting, the accused, however, having the preferential right of challenging one more, if the number permitted to be challenged is not divisible into two equal parts. The same shall apply to the challenging of the members of the Supreme Court. If there are several accused in such proceedings, they shall exercise the right of challenge collectively in accordance with rules prescribed by law. If the right of challenge is not exercised to the extent permitted, as many members of the Lagting and of the Supreme Court as are in excess of fourteen and seven respectively shall retire following the drawing of lots.

When the case comes up for judgment, as many judges of the Constitutional Court of the Realm shall retire following the drawing of lots as to ensure that the Court due to render judgment is left with fifteen members, of whom at most ten are members of the Lagting and five justices of the Supreme Court.

The President of the Constitutional Court of the Realm and the President of the Supreme Court shall in no case retire following the drawing of lots.

If the Constitutional Court of the Realm cannot be composed of as many members of the Lagting or of the Supreme Court as prescribed above, the case may nevertheless be tried and judgment rendered provided that the Court numbers at least ten judges.

Specific provisions as to the procedure to be followed in the composition of the Constitutional Court of the Realm shall be laid down by law.

Art. 88. The Supreme Court shall pronounce judgment in the final instance. Limitations on the right to bring a case before the Supreme Court may, however, be prescribed by law.

The Supreme Court shall consist of a President and at least four other members.

Art. 89. (Repealed.)

Art. 90. The judgments of the Supreme Court may in no case be appealed.

Art. 91. No one may be appointed a member of the Supreme Court before reaching 30 years of age.

E. General provisions.

Art. 92. To senior official posts (embeter) in the State may be appointed only Norwegian citizens, men and women, who speak the language of the country, and who at the same time

1. either were born in the Kingdom of parents who at that time were subjects of the State;
2. or were born in a foreign country of Norwegian parents who were not at that time subjects of another State;
3. or hereafter have resided ten years in the Kingdom;
4. or have been naturalized by the Storting.

Art. 93. In order to secure international peace and security or to promote international law and order and co-operation between nations, the Storting may, by a three-fourths majority, consent that an international organization of which Norway is or becomes a member, shall have the right, within a factually limited field, to exercise powers which in accordance with this Constitution are normally vested in the Norwegian authorities, exclusive of the power to alter this Constitution. For the Storting to grant such consent, at least two thirds of the members of the Storting, as is required for proceedings on amendments to the Constitution, shall be present.

The provisions of this Article do not apply in cases of membership in an international organization, the decisions of which are not binding on Norway except as obligations under international law.

Art. 94. The first, or if this is not possible, the second ordinary Storting, shall make provision for the publication of a new general civil and criminal code. However, the laws of the State now applicable shall remain in force, provided that they do not conflict with this Constitution or with such provisional ordinances as may be issued in the meantime.

The existing permanent taxes shall likewise remain operative until the next Storting.

Art. 95. No dispensations, protections, moratoriums or redresses may be granted after the new general code has entered into force.

Art. 96. No one may be convicted except according to law, or be punished except according to judicial sentence. Interrogation by torture must not take place.

Art. 97. No law must be given retroactive effect.

Art. 98. When special fees are paid to officials of the Courts of Justice, no further payment shall be made to the Treasury in respect of the same matter.

Art. 99. No one may be taken into custody except in the cases determined by law and in the manner prescribed by law. For unwarranted arrest and illegal detention the officer concerned shall be responsible to the person imprisoned.

The Government is not entitled to employ military force against subjects of the State, except in accordance with the forms prescribed by law, unless any assembly should disturb the public peace and not immediately disperse after the articles of the Statute Book relating to riots have been read out aloud three times by the civil authority.

Art. 100. There shall be liberty of the Press. No person may be punished for any writing, whatever it contents, which he has caused to be printed or published, unless he wilfully and manifestly has either himself shown or incited others to disobedience to the laws, contempt of religion or morality or the constitutional powers, or resistance to their orders, or has advanced false and defamatory accusations against anyone. Everyone shall be free to speak his mind frankly on the administration of the State and on any other subject whatsoever.

Art. 101. New and permanent privileges implying restrictions on the freedom of trade and industry must not in future be granted to anyone.

Art. 102. Search of private homes shall not be made except in criminal cases.

Art. 103. Asylum for the protection of debtors shall not be granted to such persons as hereafter become bankrupt.

Art. 104. Forfeiture of lands and goods shall be abolished.

Art. 105. If the welfare of the State requires that any person shall surrender his movable or immovable property for the public use, he shall receive full compensation from the Treasury.

Art. 106. The purchase money, as well as the revenues of the landed property constituting ecclesiastical benefices, shall be applied solely to the benefit of the clergy and to the promotion of education. The property of charitable institutions shall be applied solely for their own benefit.

Art. 107. Allodial right and the right of primogeniture shall not be abolished. The specific conditions under which these right s shall continue for the greatest benefit of the State and to the best advantage of the rural population shall be determined by the first or second subsequent Storting.

Art. 108. No earldoms, baronies, entailed estates or fideicommissa may be created in the future.

Art. 109. Every citizen of the State is as a general rule equally bound to defend the Country for a certain length of time, without any regard to birth or fortune.

The application of this principle, and the restrictions to which it shall be subject, shall be determined by law.

Art. 110. It is incumbent on the authorities of the State to create conditions which make it possible for every person who is able to work to earn his living by work.

Art. 111. The form and the colours of the Norwegian Flag shall be determined by law.

Art. 112. If experience shows that any part of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway ought to be changed, a proposal to this effect shall be submitted to the first, second or third ordinary Storting after a General Election and be publicly announced in print. But it shall be left to the first, second and third ordinary Storting after the following General Election to decide whether or not the proposed amendment shall be adopted. Such amendment must never, however contradict the principles embodied in this Constitution, but merely relate to modifications of particular provisions which do not alter the spirit of the Constitution, and such amendments requires that two thirds of the members of the Storting agree thereto.

An amendment of the Constitution adopted in the aforesaid manner shall be signed by the President and the Secretary of the Storting, and be sent to the King for public announcement in print, as an applicable provision of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway.

Sources

Norwegian laws etc. selected for The Foreign Service, Oslo: The Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1980, pp. 19–27.

• The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway of 17 May 1814

• Documents related to the Royal House of Norway

• Hoelseth's Royal Corner

• The main site

This page was last updated on Wednesday 11 January 2012
(first time published at http://www.geocities.com/dagtho/const1814-1978.html on Saturday 13 March 2004).

© 2004–2012 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth