Under the new Child Welfare Act, the County Social Welfare Board has been renamed the Child Welfare Tribunal. There will be twelve child welfare tribunals, based at the same geographical locations as before. The Central Office for the Child Welfare Tribunal is responsible for the administrative and professional management of the tribunals. The names of the twelve tribunals are:
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Oslo and Environ
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Buskerud and Environ
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Østfold
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Innlandet
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Vestfold og Telemark
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Agder
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Rogaland
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Vestland
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Møre og Romsdal
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Trøndelag
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Nordland
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Troms og Finnmark
Contact information for the tribunals.
The new Child Welfare Act will bring about changes for those taking part in the tribunals’ proceedings. Below you can find information about the organisational and practical changes that concern the different parties.
- Information for spokespersons
Requirement for spokespersons to submit a police certificate of conduct
With effect from 1 January 2023, all persons who are to act as spokesperson before a child welfare tribunal must submit a police certificate of conduct. Reference is made to the Child Welfare Act Section 12-11 fourth paragraph. The requirement for a police certificate of conduct will apply to people appointed as spokespersons from and including 1 January 2023.They will be required to submit a childcare certificate of conduct, cf. the Police Databases Act Section 39 first paragraph. Only persons with a clean certificate are permitted to function as spokespersons.
The certificate must be obtained from the police by the person the certificate concerns. In order to obtain the certificate, a confirmation from the Child Welfare Tribunal is required. Reference is made to the Police Databases Act Section 44. Such confirmation is issued by the child welfare tribunal where the assignment is to be carried out.
The requirement for a police certificate of conduct applies to everyone, including people who have previously functioned as spokespersons and persons who hold a job or position where they are required to submit a childcare certificate of conduct.
You can find information about how to apply for a police certificate, case processing times, etc. on the police website.
- Information for interpreters who take assignments for the tribunal
The Child Welfare Tribunal has taken over responsibility for interpreters.
With effect from 1 January 2023, the Child Welfare Tribunal assumed responsibility for booking and paying interpreters to carry out assignments for the tribunal. This responsibility previously rested with the municipal child welfare service.This means that each child welfare tribunal will be the client in relation to all interpreters who carry out assignments for the tribunal from 1 January 2023.
The tribunal will be responsible for payment for interpreting assignments carried out in 2023, even if the assignment was booked by the municipal authorities in 2022.
When using interpreters, the Child Welfare Tribunal will be subject to the requirements set out in the Interpreting Act. Interpreters will be remunerated in accordance with the provisions of the Fee Regulations.
The Child Welfare Tribunal will establish its own booking system for interpreters, modelled on the solution currently used by the courts. Interpreters who are interested in taking on assignments for the tribunal will be registered in the system and receive relevant enquiries.
- Information for ordinary tribunal members
The new Child Welfare Act should not trigger any changes that directly affect the office of ordinary tribunal members. The rule that child welfare cases are normally considered by a tribunal consisting of the chair of the tribunal, one expert member and one ordinary member, will be retained. As before, ordinary members will be randomly selected and summoned to serve on a tribunal.
Summoning of ordinary members on short notice
Under the old system, appeals against emergency care orders were considered by the board chair. The new Child Welfare Act allows for appeals against emergency care orders to be considered by an ordinary tribunal, consisting of the chair of the tribunal, one expert member and one ordinary member, in special cases.
When an appeal is considered by a tribunal, ordinary members can be summoned to serve at short notice. Appeal cases considered by a tribunal must be decided within two weeks.
Here you can find frequently asked questions about the office of ordinary member.For ordinary members in Oslo og Viken county
With effect from 1 January 2023, the County Social Welfare Board for Oslo and Viken was divided into three independent tribunals. The tribunals are named based on the new county structure that will take effect from 2024:
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Oslo and Environ
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Buskerud and Environ
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Østfold
- Information for expert tribunal members
The new Child Welfare Act should not trigger any changes that directly affect expert members. The rule that child welfare cases are normally considered by a tribunal consisting of the chair of the tribunal, one expert member and one ordinary member, will be retained.
The need for expert members in appeal cases
Under the old system, appeals against emergency care orders were considered by the tribunal chair alone. The new Child Welfare Act allows for appeals against emergency care orders to be considered by an ordinary tribunal, consisting of the chair of the tribunal, one expert member and one ordinary member, in special cases. Appeal cases must be decided no later than one week after the tribunal receives the appeal.This means that the tribunal will sometimes need expert members in appeal cases as well. Due to the statutory deadlines for considering cases, requests for expert members to take on such assignments will be made with relatively short notice.
Information for expert members in Oslo og Viken county
With effect from 1 January 2023, the County Social Welfare Board for Oslo and Viken was divided into three independent tribunals. The tribunals are named based on the new county structure that will take effect from 2024:
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Oslo and Environ
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Buskerud and Environ
• The Child Welfare Tribunal in Østfold
The committee of experts for each of the new tribunals will be the same as the committee of experts for the County Social Welfare Board for Oslo and Viken. This means that during the period from 1 January 2023 until the committee’s term ends in 2024, you may receive requests to take on assignments for all three tribunals.
- Information for experts in the dialogue process
The Ministry of Children and Families has adopted separate regulations for the dialogue process (the Dialogue Process Regulations). The Regulations entered into force with effect from 1 March 2023 and apply to cases received by the tribunal from this date.
The purpose of the Regulations is to guarantee that considerations for due process protection and the child's best interests are addressed throughout the dialogue process.
Section 7 of the Regulations sets out the role and responsibilities of the expert in the dialogue process:
‘The expert shall assist the tribunal chair in the execution of the dialogue meeting and facilitate participation by the child and dialogue between the parties. The expert has a particular responsibility for contributing to the parties reflecting on the needs of the child and supporting the parties in arriving at their own solutions.’In cases where the parties agree to try out temporary arrangements, they can also agree that the expert can observe and talk to the child during the time until the next dialogue meeting. The expert's written observations and conversations in the course of the dialogue process are not considered to constitute an expert report and are not to be submitted to the Commission on Child Welfare Experts for assessment.
The dialogue process in appeal cases
If it is decided that the dialogue process will be used in an appeal case, the deadline for making a decision is extended to three weeks after the tribunal receives the appeal. Due to the deadline for considering cases, requests to take on such assignments will be made with short notice.Duration of the dialogue process
The Regulations sets a limit for how long the dialogue process in a case can last. Section 9 dictates that temporary arrangements must be discontinued no later than one year after the tribunal received the case.
- Information for experts examining child welfare cases for the Child Welfare Tribunal
With effect from 1 January 2023, the Child Welfare Tribunal assumed responsibility for paying the experts it appoints to examine child welfare cases. This responsibility previously rested with the municipality that brought the case before the County Social Welfare Board.
This change means that the Child Welfare Tribunal will be responsible for the fees of the experts it appoints from and including 1 January 2023.
The date of appointment will determine when the responsibility for payment shifts from the municipality to the tribunal. This means that it is a municipal responsibility to pay experts appointed by the County Social Welfare Board before 1 January 2023, even if the expert’s work is not completed until 2023.
Experts who examine a case for the Child Welfare Tribunal will be remunerated in accordance with the provisions of the Fee Regulations. Among other things, this means that the Fee Regulations’ hourly rates (public fee rates) will apply when an expert takes on an assignment for the tribunal.
- Information to the child welfare services and lawyers
New requirements for municipalities’ applications for measures
The Child Welfare Act Section 14-9 stipulates new requirements regarding the content of applications for measures from municipalities. The applications must now also include:• An account of the parents’ legal and actual ties to the child and grounds for the proposal concerning who is to be considered parties to the case
• Information about whether the child wants rights as a party and the municipality's assessment of whether the child should be granted rights as a party to the case
• Information about any children without rights as a party who want to be heard and, if so, how
This provision also specifies that the applications for measures must provide a sufficient basis for satisfactory consideration of the case. It is stated in the preparatory works to the Act that this means, among other things, that the application must contain the child welfare service’s assessment of less invasive measures, which assistance measures have been tried and what effect these measures have had. The application must also describe how conflicting interests have been taken into consideration and weighed against each other, including the child’s need for care and protection and the family ties between the child and the parents.Correction and rejection of applications for measures
It is also new that if the application does not meet the statutory requirements, the tribunal chair shall order it to be corrected within a short deadline. The tribunal chair may reject cases if an application is not corrected within the deadline.The tribunals have taken over responsibility for interpreters
When the new Child Welfare Act entered into force on 1 January 2023, the tribunals took over responsibility for booking and paying interpreters to carry out assignments for the tribunal.Payment for expert reports
The tribunals have taken over responsibility for payment for expert reports.
When the new Child Welfare Act entered into force on 1 January 2023, the tribunals took over responsibility for paying for expert reports commissioned by the Child Welfare Tribunal. The Child Welfare Tribunal will be responsible for paying the experts it appoints from and including 1 January 2023.The date of appointment will determine when the responsibility for payment shifts from the municipality to the tribunal. This means that it is a municipal responsibility to pay experts appointed by the County Social Welfare Board before 1 January 2023, even if the expert’s work is not completed until after 1 January 2023.
Experts appointed by the Child Welfare Tribunal will be remunerated in accordance with the provisions of the Fee Regulations.
Expert reports commissioned by a municipality in connection with a child welfare case will be paid for by the municipal authorities as before. The preparatory works to the Child Welfare Act assumes that the change in payment responsibilities will not have any bearing on the municipalities’ obligation to ensure the proper elucidation of cases brought before the tribunal.
Requirement for spokespersons to submit a police certificate of conduct
With effect from 1 January 2023, all persons who are to act as a spokesperson before a child welfare tribunal must submit a police certificate of conduct, cf. the Child Welfare Act Section 12-11 fourth paragraph. The requirement for a police certificate of conduct applies to anyone appointed as spokespersons from 1 January 2023.They will be required to submit a childcare certificate of conduct, cf. the Police Databases Act Section 39 first paragraph. Only persons with a clean certificate are permitted to function as spokespersons.
The tribunals’ geographical area of responsibility
Each tribunal will be responsible for cases from the same municipalities as before. The Central Office for the Child Welfare Tribunal will still have delegated authority to make temporary changes to the tribunals’ geographical area of responsibility.