Legal system

It is difficult to classify the Norwegian legal system solely by reference to the various ideal categories of legal systems, which are commonly cited. This is because the Norwegian legal system has largely been set up on a national level. The Norwegian system is most similar to the legal systems of the other Nordic countries, particularly those of Denmark and Sweden.

Norway does not have a general codification of private or public law corresponding to the Code Civil or Borgerliches Gesetzbuch in civil law countries. It instead has comprehensive statutes codifying, among other things, central aspects of the criminal law and the administration of justice.

Norwegian courts do not attach the same weight to judicial precedents as members of the judiciary in common law countries traditionally have done. Neither is Norwegian courts bound by intricate rules concerning the admissibility of evidence; the basic rule is that all evidence is admissible. Court procedure is relatively informal and simple, and there is a strong lay influence in the judicial assessment of criminal matters and, to a lesser extent, civil matters. This lay influence is created through the use of both a jury system and a system whereby lay judges (without formal legal qualifications) sit with professional judges in the hearing of cases.