courts of appeal in norway In this paper I attempt to explain how the establishment of the regional and appellate courts are based on – and at the same time produced – expectations regarding the central features of the Norwegian legal order and its legal culture. By especially looking at the crucial role of the legal office of the lawman (lagmann), both in the development of the judicature in general and especially in the courts of appeal – the courts that until today bear the name of this legal institution (lagmannsrett) –, the legacy of the medieval popular assembly (þing/ting) shall be traced back to its historical roots. Other factors in the development of the judiciary are taken into account as well and will provide the reader with an overview of the main elements that caused changes both regarding the structure of the judiciary, the legal order and its surrounding legal culture. For this purpose I apply the operationalized concept of legal culture as introduced by Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde.7 By using a concept of legal culture that differentiates between norm-production and conflict-resolution as main components of the institutional structure of a given legal culture and ideas of justice, legal method and degree of professionalization as elements of its intellectual structure, it becomes possible to compare the historical developments in a specific legal culture (such as the Norwegian) with other legal cultures.8 Even though such a comparison cannot be the purpose of this paper, my observations may serve as apoint of reference for similar studies regarding other legal cultures. The paper consists mainly of four parts. In the first part I will take a closer look at the historical preconditions for the institutionalization of the lawman in late medieval Norway.9 In the second part I will analyze 7 Sunde, Jørn Øyrehagen 2010a p. 28; who defines legal culture as “ideas and expectations of law made operational by institutional (-like) practices.”On this background a legal culture contains both institutional and intellectual elements. The institutional elements are norm production and conflict-resolution, while intellectual components may be identified in ideals of justice, legal method, and level of professionalization etc. 8 Sunde, Jørn Øyrehagen 2014a pp. 221-234. 9 In Norway the office of the lawman (lagmann) played a crucial role both in the development of the judicature in general and especially in the courts of appeal. His central position in the appellate system remained mainly unaltered until 1797. Not before that time a new judiciary system was established that was based on written procedure and appellate courts (stiftsoverrett) consisting of more than one single judge. 282
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=