NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Stang Lund, Per Conradi Andersen, Alexander Daae and Emilie Wilberg, Kvale Advokatfirma DA
8.4 Witness Evidence Witnesses will submit oral statements, directly in the court. However, if the witness appears in court, this may be preceded by a written statement, although not in the form of a witness deposition. The appeal courts are on the edge of using recordings and tran- scripts from the witness statements in the court of first instance. In the Supreme Court, parties and witnesses must submit written statements, if that is relevant for the issues at hand. Witnesses are subject to cross- examination. 8.5 Expert Evidence Expert evidence is permitted. Experts may be appoint- ed by the court or by the parties, or both. Regularly, the expert presents a written report before the oral hearing, and comment orally on this in court. Experts shall perform their duties conscientiously and to the best of their convictions, and, if appointed by the court, without any bias of attachment to any of the sides of the matter. The procedure for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments depends on the country in which the judgment was rendered and the legal basis on which recognition may be sought. A foreign judg- ment may be recognised and enforced in Norway only where there is a basis for doing so in statute or under an applicable convention. Norway is a party to the Lugano Convention, under which judgments from the other contracting states are to be recognised and enforced without any review of the merits; enforcement may be refused only on narrowly defined procedural grounds. As regards the United Kingdom, a separate convention on the recip- rocal recognition and enforcement of civil judgments applies and will cover most cases. 9. Enforcement 9.1 Enforcement of Judgments Where no basis exists under a convention, proceed- ings must in principle be brought afresh before the Norwegian courts, which will then be free to determine the case independently. The foreign judgment may
nevertheless be relevant as evidence of the claim, and may carry weight in the assessment. Where recognition and enforcement are sought, pro- vided there is a convention basis for doing so, a copy of the foreign judgment must be produced together with a certified translation and confirmation that the judgment is final and binding. The judgment is then for- warded to the enforcement authorities. If the defend- ant raises objections to enforcement, those objections must be determined by the ordinary courts, with the district court acting as the court of first instance. 9.2 Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Norway is a party to the 1958 New York Convention, under which arbitral awards from more than 160 coun- tries are recognised. A copy of the award and a trans- lation must be produced. 9.3 Length of Time As a rule of thumb, it is reasonable to expect several months to elapse from when enforcement is requested until performance, although the timeframe may vary significantly, depending on the nature and scope of the matter, and whether the defendant is accessible. 9.4 Grounds for Resisting Enforcement A party may resist enforcement of a foreign judgment only on very limited grounds, including that: • recognition or enforcement would be contrary to Norwegian public policy; • the defendant was not given a real opportunity to be heard; or • the foreign court lacked jurisdiction under the rel- evant convention. Enforcement may also be resisted on the grounds that the judgment is not final and binding, or that it is irrec- oncilable with an earlier final judgment between the same parties. Norwegian courts may not review the merits of the judgment, including the assessment of the evidence or the application of law. Recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award may be refused only on very limited grounds, such as: • invalidity of the arbitration agreement;
432 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook