Erling Sandene is a Norwegian judge and civil servant.

He was born in Bærum

Bærum

is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city....

 as a son of teacher Johan Sandene (1885–1945) og Jensine Sæther (1887–1981). He was married to Erna Harbitz Torstenson from 1949 to her death in 1986.

He enrolled as a student in 1940, and graduated as cand.jur. in 1943 after only three years. He was also involved in the Norwegian resistance movement

Norwegian resistance movement

The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...

. In 1945 he was hired as a deputy judge in Eidsvoll

Eidsvoll

is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet.-Name:...

, where he worked with the legal purge

Legal purge in Norway after World War II

When the occupation of Norway ended in May 1945, several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens were tried and convicted for various acts that the occupying powers sanctioned...

. In 1946 he was hired in the Ministry of Justice and the Police

Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of justice, police and domestic intelligence. The main purpose of the Ministry is to provide for the maintenance and development of the basic guarantees of the rule of law...

. He was promoted to deputy under-secretary of state in 1962.

He was County Governor of Møre og Romsdal from 1966 to 1972, Supreme Court Justice

Supreme Court of Norway

The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...

 from 1972 and Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsman from 1974 to 1982. From 1984 to 1991, he was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Norway is the judicial leader of the Supreme Court of Norway.The following is a chronological list of chief justices since the court was established:...

. Sandene was appointed a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav in 1982, and is also a freemason.