COUNTRY OVERVIEW AND CONTEXT

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter CRC or ‘the Convention’) was incorporated into Norwegian law in 2003 by being included in the Human Rights Act. This was a full and direct incorporation. The context and legal implications will be explained below.

As of 1 January 2020, Norway had 5.37 million inhabitants, with just under 1,120,000 below the age of 18 years, making up 21 per cent of the population. During the previous three years, the number of children had gone down by 12,400. A little over 19 per cent of children have an immigrant background (immigrants or born to immigrant parents).

Norway is a state with a national central authority and some autonomy for the 356 municipalities. Due to their autonomy, the municipalities were not bound by the CRC until it was made part of Norwegian law.

The Nordic legal tradition may be described as something in between the common law and civil law systems. There is a separate Act for every sector of the government administration, in addition to Acts regulating private law. However, development of the law also takes place in the courts. Where the law is vague or discretionary, courts may have to apply policy considerations in their interpretation of the law, and a clarification of the law may imply developing or even creating law.

Norway has a strong tradition of ratifying human rights instruments and is a party to all the United Nations (UN) human rights conventions, except the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The CRC was ratified in January 1991 and its two first Optional Protocols, the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OPSC) and the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) in 2001 and 2003, respectively. The complaints mechanisms under the following treaties have been ratified: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture (ICAT), the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).