Norway
Before submitting a claim to the Conciliation Board or lodging a claim before a District Court, a potential claimant should notify its claim to the opposing party in writing and bring to its attention material documents and other evidence. Parties must then explore the possibility of an amicable settlement. These rules are not procedural requirements in order to initiate an action and to obtain a judgment, however, the courts may take the lack of notice and/or failure to explore resolution of the dispute outside of court into account in the final costs award (depending on the consequences of such faults in the specific matter).
In order to initiate legal proceedings before Norwegian courts, the claimant has to submit a complaint to the Conciliation Board or a writ to the District Court. The writ should provide all necessary information for a clear presentation of the case, including: (i) the claim; (ii) its legal and factual bases; (iii) proposed evidence to be relied upon as part of the claim; (iv) the claimant’s view as to jurisdiction, and (iv) the judgment which it seeks from the court. Complaints to the Conciliation Board may be less extensive than this. Self-representation is also possible before the District Court, however it is infrequent in commercial cases.
After receiving the writ, the District Court will serve it on the defendant, who generally has three weeks to provide a defense. During court vacations (which are Easter, summer and Christmas holidays), the deadline will automatically be postponed by the number of days for which the specific court vacation lasts. In complex matters, it is not unusual for a defendant to request an extension of the three-week deadline. At a minimum, the defense must contain of a short statement contesting the claim and/or objecting to the court hearing the case. However, in order to enable the defendant to produce a fuller defence beyond these minimum requirements, defendants are usually granted an initial extension on the standard three-week period. If a further extension is requested, the court will ask the claimant if it has any objections to this.
Following submission of the defense, the District Court will promptly arrange the initial case management meeting, often within a month. This is typically conducted via a telephone conference with the judge and counsel, and serves to establish the case’s structure. The court will also schedule the main hearing at the initial case management meeting. The main hearing will usually be scheduled for within six months of submission of the original statement of claim, unless specific circumstances require a later date.
During legal proceedings in Norway, judges may suggest mediation unless this is not appropriate given the nature or circumstances of the case. Mediation can be, and often is, administered by a judge. The judge is required to maintain confidentiality if the mediation is unsuccessful. To secure the parties’ confidence in the judge’s independence, a judge who has been involved in an unsuccessful mediation may only take part in subsequent proceedings with the consent of the parties and provided that the judge does not consider it inappropriate.
Judgments are typically issued within two to three weeks of the close of the main hearing, although this is often longer in complex, multi-party cases.