Norway

Kingdom of Norway

Civil law (Nordic)Constitutional monarchyReviewed· 2026-08-02

Capital: Oslo
Population: 5,500,000
Languages: Norwegian
Currency: NOK

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Norway · Rights

Rights in Norway

What the atlas records on rights in Norway, checked against the primary sources cited below.

Rights

The 1814 Grunnlov, a unicameral Storting and judge-made review

Reviewed· 2026-08-02

Norway is governed under the 1814 Constitution, one of the world's oldest. The Storting has sat as a single chamber since 2009, and the courts have long claimed a power to review statutes for constitutionality.

Key rules

Constitutional amendment requires two Stortings either side of an election.
The Supreme Court can set aside statutes that conflict with the Constitution.
A 2014 revision added a modern catalogue of human rights to the text.

Governing law

Constitution of Norway (Grunnloven) (1814)

In practice

Norway is outside the EU, so EU-derived rules enter Norwegian law through the EEA Agreement rather than directly.

Sources

Rights

The Human Rights Act 1999 gives the ECHR precedence over statute

Reviewed· 2026-08-02

The 1999 Human Rights Act incorporates the ECHR and core UN covenants and gives them precedence over conflicting Norwegian legislation. A 2014 revision embedded rights in the Constitution itself.

Key rules

Incorporated human-rights conventions prevail over conflicting ordinary statutes.
The 2014 constitutional revision entrenched a domestic bill of rights.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman oversees public administration.

Governing law

Human Rights Act (Menneskerettsloven) (1999)

In practice

The statutory precedence rule makes Strasbourg case law directly influential in Norwegian courts despite Norway sitting outside the EU.

Sources

Norwegian National Human Rights Institution

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