Norwegian Defence Security Department
Encyclopedia
The Norwegian Defence Security Department (NORDSD) (in Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...

: Forsvarets sikkerhetsavdeling, acronym: FSA) is a joint security
Security
Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...

 and counter-intelligence
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...

 service within the Norwegian Armed Forces
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces numbers about 23,000 personnel, including civilian employees. According to mobilisation plans , the strength during full mobilisation would be approximately 83,000 combatant personnel. Norway has mandatory military service for men and voluntary service for women...

. Its members are a mix of civilian employees and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 personnel. The head of the service holds the military rank Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 or (naval) captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

.

Role and responsibility

NORDSD's primary responsibility is protective security and operative security services within the Armed Forces, including responsibilities related to the Norwegian Armed Forces security intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....

.
NORDSD shall, on behalf of the Chief of Defence, Norwegian Armed Forces (CHODNOR):
  • Counteract security threats, and threats associated with espionage
    Espionage
    Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...

    , sabotage
    Sabotage
    Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...

     and terrorist acts that may affect military activities and/or national security
    National security
    National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...

    .

  • Conduct background check
    Background check
    A background check or background investigation is the process of looking up and compiling criminal records, commercial records and financial records of an individual....

    s, (the vetting
    Vetting
    Vetting is a process of examination and evaluation, generally referring to performing a background check on someone before offering him or her employment, conferring an award, etc...

     process) to determine if security clearance
    Security clearance
    A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information, i.e., state secrets, or to restricted areas after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal...

     can be given to military personnel who apply for access to classified information
    Classified information
    Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...

    .

  • Act as the Designated Security Authority in Norway
    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...

     for the "request for visit" system, by controlling both visits of foreign nationals to the Norwegian Armed Forces or Norwegian defence industry, and issue Norwegian citizens with a certificate of security clearance when visiting other nations where valid security clearance is required.

  • Liaise with the Norwegian Police Security Service in cases that involve the Armed Forces.


NORDSD does this by collecting and assessing information regarding security risks and weaknesses within the Norwegian Armed Forces, to analyze and recommend which counter-measures must be taken.

NORDSD is the largest security clearance (vetting) authority in Norway and handles approximately 20,000 security clearance cases annually.

Rule of law and legal mandate

Within any democratic and transparent nation, the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...

 and Rechtsstaat
Rechtsstaat
Rechtsstaat is a concept in continental European legal thinking, originally borrowed from German jurisprudence, which can be translated as "legal state", "state of law", "state of justice", or "state of rights"...

 principle of regulating executive powers is fundamental.
The Norwegian Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

, Article 99, forbids the use of military personnel and powers against the citizens unless warranted by act of parliament or insurrection. Article 110c forbids any executive action that is a violation of human rights.

Only the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Norwegian Intelligence Service
Norwegian Intelligence Service
Etterretningstjenesten or the Norwegian Intelligence Service is a Norwegian military intelligence agency under the Chief of Defence and the Ministry of Defence....

 (ETJ) and the Norwegian National Security Authority (NSM) are defined as "secret services" and given special executive authority by separate acts of parliament.

Since no special executive authority is given, the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...

 principle strongly limits NORDSD to only operate within the Armed Forces. Therefore all actions or counter-measures must have a legal basis in:
  1. The general provisions of the Protective Security Act, The Defence Secrets Act, The Military Criminal Justice Act and the Military Police powers act.
  2. Common law
    Common law
    Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

     / Chain of command
    Chain of Command
    Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...

     authority within the Norwegian Armed Forces
  3. International treaties/agreements concerning military security regulation through Norway's membership of NATO.

Oversight

As a result of lessons learned by the surveillance scandals after the end of the Cold War, several fail-safe mechanisms are in place to prevent future breaches of human rights and illegal surveillance.
NORDSD is under the direct oversight of the legislative and executive branches in Norway.

The legislative branch exercises its control through the Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee
Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee
The Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee , commonly known as the EOS Committee is the body responsible for supervising public intelligence, surveillance and security services. The body has seven members and is appointed by the Parliament of Norway...

, (EOS-committee), which is an independent watch-dog that has monitored NORDSD activities since 2003. The service was elevated to be one of the 'main inspection objects' (the Norwegian secret services are the others), in 2009. In all of the EOS committee's annual reports to the Stortinget (the Norwegian Parliament), all deviation from what the committee deems to be good standards has, with the rule of law or human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

, been exposed and correctly criticized. These reports are available to the public on the EOS-committee website.

The executive branch exercises its control through different means:
  • By controlling measures pursuant to the Protective Security Act in the Armed Forces, also in matters of personnel security to ensure uniform interpretation of the Act. NORDSD is under the supervisory authority of the Norwegian National Security Authority.
  • Political control which is exercised through civilian control of the military through the Minister of Defence, and the principle of accountability in the Parliamentary system
    Parliamentary system
    A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....

    .
  • The chain of command
    Chain of Command
    Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...

     which is exercised through the CHODNOR, his Chief-of-staff and the CHODNOR auditory unit, and is responsible to regularly brief the Minister of Defence on NORDSD activities.
  • The judicial branch exercises indirect control of NORDSD in these cases' legal actions brought against persons by the service or if a corporate charge is brought against NORDSD or its personnel.

Insignia

NORDSD insignia
Insignia
Insignia or insigne pl -nia or -nias : a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction...

 is constructed in accordance with 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...

 and continental heraldic rules and tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...

; it was approved by the Chief of Defence, Norwegian Armed Forces (CHODNOR) in 2003. The insignia symbolism is as follows:
  1. The crown is, in Norway, the symbol of the sovereign
    Sovereign
    A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority within its jurisdiction.Sovereign may also refer to:*Monarch, the sovereign of a monarchy*Sovereign Bank, banking institution in the United States*Sovereign...

     and the executive powers of the state.
  2. The basis livery
    Livery
    A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...

     colour is green. This stems from the 2nd World War when the exiled Norwegian Armed Forces in the United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

     adopted the British Army
    British Army
    The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

    's patterns to indicate rank
    Military rank
    Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...

     and service branch. Green was the service branch colour for the intelligence
    Intelligence
    Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....

     and security
    Security
    Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...

     service (this is seen today in the UK's army Intelligence Corps beret and stable belt
    Stable belt
    A stable belt is an item of uniform used in the armed forces of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. Stable belts or similar derivatives are also worn by the armed forced of other nations such as Denmark....

     colour which is cypress
    Cypress
    Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...

     green
    Green
    Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

    ).
  3. The silver
    Silver
    Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

     key represents access to knowledge
    Knowledge
    Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...

     that is the sovereign
    Sovereign
    A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority within its jurisdiction.Sovereign may also refer to:*Monarch, the sovereign of a monarchy*Sovereign Bank, banking institution in the United States*Sovereign...

     property
    Property
    Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...

     and must be protected.
  4. The lion figure is based on the Coat of arms of Norway
    Coat of arms of Norway
    The coat of arms of Norway is a crowned, golden lion rampant holding an axe with an argent blade, on a crowned, triangular and red escutcheon. Its elements originate from personal insignias for the royal house in the High Middle Ages, thus being among the oldest in Europe...

    . It represents strength and determination to protect and guard the nation and its firm hold on the key, affirms the loyalty
    Loyalty
    Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, country, group, or cause There are many aspects to...

     to protect the sovereign
    Sovereign
    A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority within its jurisdiction.Sovereign may also refer to:*Monarch, the sovereign of a monarchy*Sovereign Bank, banking institution in the United States*Sovereign...

     property.


Since NORDSD is not a part of the Norwegian Army
Norwegian Army
Norway achieved full independence in 1905, and in the first century of its short life has contributed to two major conflicts, the Cold War and the War on Terror. The Norwegian Army currently operates in the north of Norway and in Afghanistan as well as in Eastern Europe. The Army is the oldest of...

 lifeguard division ((this role is filled by His Majesty the King's Guards (HMKG) and the Military Academy
Military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...

(KS) - Linderud)), the standard gold colour is used.
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