NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Knud Jacob Knudsen, Jenny Sandvig, Oda Lauksund Engamo and Nicholas Foss Barbantonis, Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig
• the factual and legal grounds upon which the claim is based; • the evidence that will be presented; • the basis upon which the court has jurisdic- tion to hear the case if this may be doubtful; and • the claimant’s view on the further proceed- ings of the case, including any agreements that may be of relevance to the proceedings. The writ of summons shall provide a basis for the parties and the court to hear the case in a sound manner. Claims, prayers for relief and the factual and legal grounds shall be stated in such a manner as to enable the defendant to consider the claims and prepare the case. The claimant’s argumentation shall not go further than neces- sary to satisfy these requirements. Furthermore, the writ of summons shall give the court a basis for assessing its jurisdiction and shall provide the necessary information to enable the writ of summons to be served and to contact the par- ties. Some cases must be heard by a conciliation board before being brought to the ordinary courts. The requirements for an initial com- plaint to a conciliation board are almost identi- cal to those described above. However, it is not uncommon for the complaint to be somewhat simpler and shorter than a writ of summons. 3.5 Rules of Service It is the responsibility of the court to serve the defendant with the writ of summons. This can be carried out in several ways. If the defendant is represented by a lawyer, the documents are usually served by means of electronic communi- cation. The lawyer who receives the service must confirm receipt on behalf of their client as soon as possible, and at the latest within the deadline specified in the transmission. Service can also
be done by ordinary post, either by regular letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by regis- tered letter. Furthermore, if service as described above is not successful, the court may seek to serve the defendant through other means, such as a process server. If the respondent is domiciled outside Norway, the manner of service will be governed by appli- cable international treaties. The most important convention is the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (the Hague Convention 1965). Within the Nordic region, the agreement of 26 April 1974 between Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden applies. The agreement simplifies the procedure for sending letters of requests and contains rules on which languages can be used. 3.6 Failure to Respond When a defendant is served the writ of summons, they are also ordered to submit their answer or statement of defence within a certain deadline. A party shall be deemed to be unlawfully absent if they do not submit a response to the lawsuit within the deadline. The defendant may, by way of reinstatement, be permitted by the court to take the necessary procedural action and con- tinue the action in the same position as before the omission. The court shall reject the case if the claimant is unlawfully absent because they have not responded to the lawsuit, and the court does not grant reinstatement. It is a prerequisite for rejection that the defendant has been informed of the consequences.
1071 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook