Legislation

The book of Norwegian laws

When a new Storting assembles following an election, it elects one quarter of the members (42) to serve as members of the Lagting. The remaining three quarters (127) become members of the Odelsting.

Most bills are submitted to the Storting by the Government, but individual members of the Odelsting may also submit bills (so-called “Private Member’s Bills”). Around 100–150 bills are dealt with by the Storting every year.

The drafting of a bill

A bill is introduced by the Government in the form of a Proposition to the Odelsting. The proposition is the product of thorough preparatory work. In the case of a major item of legislation or an extensive revision of existing law, the Government generally appoints an expert committee or commission to study the matter. The commission submits a report including a draft bill to the relevant ministry.

The Ministry usually sends the report out for comments – so called hearings. In this way, all relevant government agencies, organizations, institutions and associations are given the opportunity to state their opinions. When comments from the consultation round have been received, the Ministry prepares the proposition. This is first presented to the King in Council, and, if approved there, it is then sent to the Odelsting.

A Private Members’ Bill is drafted by the representatives themselves, possibly with the assistance of the parliamentary party group staff or an external legal expert. A Private Members’ Bill is formally presented by the member to the Odelsting at the beginning of a sitting, in the same way as a proposition from the Government.

The legislative procedure in the Storting

The Odelsting normally refers the bill to the relevant Standing Committee in the Storting and this committee is then responsible for preparatory deliberations. After the Committee has considered the bill, it submits a written recommendation to the Odelsting. The recommendation often contains minority and/or majority proposals for amendments to the bill, and is debated by the Odelsting. In reality, most matters concerning legislation are decided when the committee has submitted its recommendation even though the final processing still remains.

If the bill is approved by the Odelsting, possibly with amendments recommended by the committee, it is sent to the Lagting. The decision of the Odelsting is then considered by the Lagting and, if approved there, is sent to the King in Council for Royal Assent. When the King has signed the Act and the Prime Minister has countersigned, it becomes law from the date stated in the Act or decided by the Government. The role performed by the King has become symbolic over the years but his participation is still formally required.

This is the usual legislative procedure. However, in the unusual event that the Lagting disagrees with the Odelsting’s decision, the bill is returned to the Odelsting with comments. If the Odelsting accepts the comments, the bill is passed. If, however, the Odelsting maintains its original decision, or only complies partly with the views of the Lagting, the bill must be reconsidered by the Lagting. If the Lagting still disagrees, the matter is sent back to the Odelsting and brought before the plenary Storting. A two-thirds majority is then required to pass the bill, whereas a simple majority is otherwise sufficient. At least three days must pass between each consideration of a bill by the Odelsting or Lagting.

The division of the Storting into two legislative chambers has historic reasons. After the inception of political parties, the relations between the Lagting and the Odelsting changed considerably, and the Lagting today primarily functions as a check. The Odelsting and the Lagting now have approximately the same distribution of members from the different parties, and consequently the Lagting very rarely disagrees with the Odelsting’s decisions. The procedure in the Lagting has been considerably simplified in practice, and debates in the chamber are rare.

The bill that is finally adopted by the Odelsting and the Lagting may differ considerably from the proposal originally submitted by the Government. This is particularly the case in times of minority governments. It is also occasionally decided that a bill be rejected or shelved.

From 1 October 2009 the system of the Odelsting and Lagting will be formally brought to an end. From this point onwards, bills will be considered by the Storting as a whole only.