Knut Storberget is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 barrister and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

. He became the Minister of Justice and the Police

Minister of Justice and the Police (Norway)

In Norway, the Minister of Justice and the Police is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and a member of Government of Norway. Current minister is Grete Faremo of the Norwegian Labour Party who is part of the second cabinet Stoltenberg...

 serving in the second cabinet Stoltenberg

Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet is the current government of Norway. Appointed on 17 October 2005, it is a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. The cabinet has ten members from the Labour Party, five from the Socialist...

 from 2005. Storberget stepped down on November 11, 2011.

He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hedmark

Hedmark

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...

 in 2001, and has been re-elected on one occasion. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the terms 1993–1997 and 1997–2001. In October 2005 he was appointed Minister of Justice and the Police

Minister of Justice and the Police (Norway)

In Norway, the Minister of Justice and the Police is the head of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police and a member of Government of Norway. Current minister is Grete Faremo of the Norwegian Labour Party who is part of the second cabinet Stoltenberg...

 in the second cabinet Stoltenberg

Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet is the current government of Norway. Appointed on 17 October 2005, it is a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. The cabinet has ten members from the Labour Party, five from the Socialist...

. His seat in parliament was taken by Thomas Breen

Thomas Breen

Thomas Breen is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party . He represents Hedmark in the Norwegian Parliament, where he was elected to replace of Knut Storberget, who was appointed to a government position.-External links:...

.

On the local level he was a member of Elverum

Elverum

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Elverum...

 municipal council from 1991 to 1999.

Outside of politics, he studied political science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 at the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

, but graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 1990. He worked as a lawyer from 1992 to 2002.

In June 2010, Storberget declared that he no longer wants to punish drug use (reference: http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3698238.ece).

Allegations of trying to coerce a lawyer of victims of Utøya massacre

A lawyer for victims of the Utøya massacre, Mette Yvonne Larsen, was telephoned by Storberget on August 19, 2011, and allegedly the minister asked her to reduce her critiscism (after she publicly criticized some of actions by police during and after the massacre, and after having asked, on behalf of her clients, why police did not arrive earlier to the scene of the massacre, and asked why there was no helicopter [belonging to the Government] on standby). Storberget said that can not remember such (having called the lawyer and asking her to soften her criticism (dempe kritikken).