courts of appeal in norway these representatives was chosen a jury of men (løgretta/lagrette) that was supposed to provide the assembly with advice.19 However, only a few years after the Code came into force, the number of these representatives declined drastically. The reason was presumably the often long and burdensome journey to the assemblies and insufficient financial compensation for this assignment. As a consequence, the lawman gradually became a sole judge in these courts, even though the layman’s element was not officially abolished until the end of the eighteenth century.20 On the district level the lawman’s decision was not just an alternative to assembly-rulings but his verdict was in all cases decisive. Only the king could overrule his judgment, provided that his co-judges had filed a formal request to do so.21 The lawman’s juridical expertise and his authority deriving directly from the king thus made the lawman the most important actor in the Norwegian legal system in the following centuries. Besides being the head of the district court he acted also as the king’s deputy when traveling through the countryside. Furthermore, he became one of the most respected public servants in the regional districts, where he often was also assigned other administrative duties alongside his judicial ones.22 By providing the lawman with these wider competences in the Code of the Realm the King pursued two objectives. First, he wanted to get a tighter grip on the application of the law and by that he intended to strengthen his control over the jurisdiction which so far had been lying in the hands of the local communities, the church or the parties themselves. Second, the strengthening of the lawman’s authority was a response to the need for a higher degree of professionalization at the end of the High Middle Ages when Norwegian society was prospering and 19 Nissen, Gunnar 1966 p. 23. 20 Nissen, Gunnar 1966 p. 33. 21 King Magnus Lagabøtes Code of the Realm from 1274 Book I (Tingfarebolken) chap. 4 subsection 4: “But all that what this law book does not decide shall be decided by the judges in the regional court (lagrettemænd) on case to case basis. But if they do not come to an agreement, the lawman and the judges who consent in his judgement decide, unless the King advised by wise men considers another solution to be more in concordance with law.” See also Sunde, Jørn Øyrehagen 2010b p. 166. 22 Falkanger, Aage Thor 2007 p. 87 ff. 286
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