The Council of Europe and Pan-European General Principles of Good Administration - the Influence on the Administrative Law of Norway

Abstract

This chapter discusses the impact of the pan-European principles of good administration on Norwegian administrative law. The chapter claims that the European Convention on Human Rights and other sources of the Council of Europe (CoE) have generally contributed to strengthening the ‘rule-of-law tradition’ in Norwegian law. This contribution is especially palpable in specialized fields like migration, family law and local self-government. However, in other fields, such as administrative procedural rights and access to information, the impact of the CoE seems to have been limited because the corresponding national regulations preceded many of the relevant conventions and recommendations of the CoE. The chapter concludes that Norway shows a willingness to be influenced by new administrative law standards developed by the CoE.