Norway
District Court judgments can be appealed to a Court of Appeal on the basis of assessment of evidence, application of law or procedural errors. Appeals in low-value cases (ie cases with a value of below NOK250,000) require permission from the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal may also deny permission to appeal in high-value cases, where it is clearly more likely than not that the appeal will not succeed.
Appeals must be filed within a month of the District Court’s judgment. A shorter deadline may be set by the District Court, but this is not common. The respondent usually has a three-week deadline to reply to the appeal. Submitting a reply to the appeal is not a strict requirement by law, but is nevertheless best practice.
Even if a District Court judgment is appealed within the deadline, there would still be grounds to apply for an execution lien where the judgment concluded in one of the parties receiving a monetary award. An execution lien acts as security for the awarded sum awaiting the final and binding judgment. In any case, the execution lien has to be applied for and is not granted on the initiative of the court.
Following submission of the defense/reply, the Court of Appeal will promptly arrange the initial case management meeting. This is often held within a month of the Supreme Court having been forwarded the appeal and reply. The meeting is typically conducted via a telephone conference with the judge in charge of case management and counsel, and serves to establish the case’s structure. The court will also schedule the appeal hearing at this meeting, which is usually between six months and a year from the date on which the appeal and reply was forwarded, unless specific circumstances require a later date. Please note that this timeline has varied a good deal over the last 15 years.
Judgments are typically issued within four weeks of the close of the appeal hearing, although this will often be longer in complex, multi-party cases.
If a District Court decision is set aside by the Court of Appeal, the case will be transferred back to the District Court (or other court that is to hear the case further). The District Court is bound by and shall apply the interpretation of the law which the Court of Appeal applied when setting aside the original ruling.
Appeals from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court need special permission from the Supreme Court’s Appeals Committee. Leave can only be granted for appeals: (i) which concern issues of principle interest; (ii) which raise questions of significance beyond the scope of the relevant case; or (iii) for which there are other reasons why it is important that the Supreme Court decides the matter (for example, matters of public importance, concerning human rights etc.). The Appeals Committee’s decision on whether further appeal to the Supreme Court is granted is normally delivered approximately a month after the appeal and reply is forwarded from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. Once permission is granted, an initial case management meeting is held quite promptly thereafter. Supreme Court hearings are typically held within six months after the Supreme Court received the appeal and reply. Judgments are typically issued within two-three weeks of the close of the Supreme Court hearing.
If a Court of Appeal decision is set aside by the Supreme Court, the case shall be transferred back to the Court of Appeal or other court that is to hear the case further. The relevant court is bound by and shall apply the interpretation of the law which the Supreme Court applied when setting aside the original ruling.