$SSURYHG -XGJPHQW - Judiciary · 2020-04-20 · $SSURYHG -XGJPHQW - Judiciary ... ri .)$
The County Social Welfare Boards are a judiciary ...
Transcript of The County Social Welfare Boards are a judiciary ...
The County Social Welfare Boards are a judiciary administrative body which follows the same principles as the courts of law.
Private parties to the case1
Usually parents with parental
responsibility, parents without parental
responsibility entitled to visit their child,
children over 15 years.
Private parties have the opportunity to
give their explanations and provide
evidence before the board.
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73 Legal counsel
Official party to the case
Board members
Legal counsel
Private parties to the case
Witnesses
Legal counsel
Represents an official or private party.
Usually an attorney.
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Board Members
The board is comprised of persons with different competences.
The board usually has three members, a Board Chair, Expert Member and Ordinary
member/Lay person. In certain cases, the board chair may decide that the board
should be composed of two ordinary members and two expert members, in
addition to the board chair.
Decisions are made by simple majority of votes.
Official party to the case2
The official body who proposes
that a decision for compulsory
measures be taken.
Usually, the municipality is
represented for instance, by a
case worker with the Child Welfare
Service.
Gives evidence to the board.
Board Chair4
Leads the process.
Has the same competence as a judge.
Will contribute with his/her life
experience and common sense
when evaluating if the legal
requirements to adopt a
compulsory measure are
present.
They are also lay judges for the
District Courts (In Norwegian –
tingrettene) and the Court of
Appeals (In Norwegian -
lagmannsrettene).
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Expert Member
Person with special professional
competence in the field.
In most cases, it is a psychologist,
psychiatrist, social worker, child
welfare worker, or specialized child
welfare officer.
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Ordinary member/Lay person
Specialist or expert in charge of a report
An expert who is appointed to perform an assessment on a child’s need for care and
the parent’s ability to provide care.
The expert will often be a psychologist or psychiatrist, and is given a mandate by the
municipality, the private party or by the board, which describes the circumstances
about the child and the parents to be assessed.
The specialist/expert interviews the private and the official parties, and is entitled to
collect other relevant information. The expert writes a report wherein he / she gives
his findings, which is sent to the board and the parties’ counsels.
The report from the expert can only be used as evidence if it has been reviewed by
Barnesakkyndig kommisjon – the Child Welfare Expert Committee.
The expert is present at the meeting and gives evidence. The report forms part of the
decision-making fundaments.
Witnesses7
Persons who give evidence to the
board, but are not a part of the
case.
Persons who have seen, heard or
experienced something which has a
bearing on the case.
Spokesperson
The board may appoint a spokesperson for children who are older than 7 years, as
well as for younger children if they are able to formulate their own opinions in the
case. Children over 15 years are entitled to have their own legal counsel (therefore
a spokesperson is not appointed for them).
Children have the right to be heard in cases that concerns them. The child’s
opinion shall be taken into consideration according to the child’s age and level of
maturity.
The spokesperson is subjected to the duty of confidentiality about what appears
in the case. After having talked with the children in the case, the spokesperson
writes a report which is sent to the board.
The spokesperson is also present at the meeting and gives evidence about what
the child has expressed.
Spokespersons are people who are qualified to talk with children, and can be, for
example kindergarten employees, teachers, child and youth workers, school
nurses or social workers.
Interpreter
If one of the private parties or a witness does not speak Norwegian, the
municipality will provide an interpreter (paid for by the state) to be present at the
meeting in order to translate what is being said.
The interpreters are subject to the duty of confidentiality and shall translate only
what is being said at the court hearing. They shall not express their own
meanings.