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...

, the district court is the first court

Court

A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...

 instance, and handles both criminal

Criminal law

Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

 and civil

Civil law (legal system)

Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

 cases

Legal case

A legal case is a dispute between opposing parties resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case may be either civil or criminal...

. The ruling of the district court may be appeal

Appeal

An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....

ed to the next level of court, the court of appeal

Court of appeal (Norway)

In Norway, the court of appeal is the second level of courts of justice, reviewing criminal and civil cases appealed from the district courts. There are six courts of appeal, each covering a jurisdiction and based in a city. Each court is led by a senior judge president and several appellate...

.

The term tingrett for the district courts was introduced in 2002, replacing the previous terms city court (byrett) and district court (herredsrett).

Criminal cases

Since August 1995, all criminal cases which go to court are tried at the district court first. Prior to this, the most serious cases were tried in the Court of appeal

Court of appeal (Norway)

In Norway, the court of appeal is the second level of courts of justice, reviewing criminal and civil cases appealed from the district courts. There are six courts of appeal, each covering a jurisdiction and based in a city. Each court is led by a senior judge president and several appellate...

 (lagmannsrett). Regular trials are usually held before a panel of three judges, one professional and two lay

Lay judge

A lay judge is a person assisting a judge in a trial. Lay judges are used in some civil law jurisdictions, such as Germany, Sweden and Finland. Japan began implementing a new lay judge system in 2009....

 judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

s. In particularly difficult cases the bench may consist of five judges (two professional and three lay judges). Verdicts and sentences are determined by a majority vote, with the lay judges' votes counting the same as the professional judge. If there is a full confession, and the defendant agrees to it, the trial may be held before a single professional judge who hears the case and determines sentencing.

Civil cases

The district court is the second tier in most civil cases, the first tier being the conciliation board (forliksråd). Certain cases cannot be held at the conciliation board, including family law, patent and trademark issues, cases against the authorities, and cases where an independent complaints committee has issued an opinion. In addition, larger cases where both sides are representad by attorneys, and other cases where extrajudicial mediation have take place, may bypass the conciliation board and go straight to the district court. The district court also hears appeals from the conciliation board.

Civil cases are normally held before a single professional judge, but either side can demand two lay judges be seated as well. In some cases the law demands that there be two lay judges with competence in the subject matter.