The validity of a road project where no impact assessment had been made
Supreme Court judgment 28 November 2017, HR-2017-2247-A, (case no. 2017/426), civil case, appeal against judgment.
Reinøy reindeer grazing district, Margareth Anni Hansen, Herolf Andreas Hansen, Audhild Helene Hansen, Sigrunn Merete Hansen (Counsel Knut Helge Hurum)
v.
The County Authority of Troms (Counsel Johan Fredrik Remmen represented by the Regional Roads Office (Counsel Pål Martin Abell)
Justices: Kallerud, Bergh, Arntzen, Matheson, Matningsdal
A municipality in Troms had adopted a zoning plan for a road project that would have consequences for the reindeer husbandry in the area. The reindeer grazing district and the affected herders were not supported by the Supreme Court's majority in their submission that the subsequent expropriation decision was invalid since no impact assessment had been carried out prior to the adoption of the zoning plan. The costs, that were to be determined based on the estimate at the commencement of the zoning work, not at the time of the decision, were not sufficiently high for an impact assessment to be initiated. The majority also referred to what had been known to the local authorities regarding the consequences of the road project for the reindeer husbandry, and concluded that there was no genuine possibility that an impact assessment would have altered the decisions that had been made. The lack of an impact assessment could therefore not entail an annulment of the compulsory purchase order pursuant to section 41 of the Public Administration Act. The measures were also below the threshold for being considered a violation the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (SP) Article 27. Dissenting votes 3-2.