Right to bring action against the validity of a cooperative decision

Justices: Indreberg, Matheson, Bull, Høgetveit Berg, Steinsvik

A deputy board member in a cooperative, who found he had unlawfully been denied reelection to this post, brought an action regarding the validity of the annual meeting's decision. During the court proceedings, a new annual meeting was held electing a new board. The Supreme Court, having conducted an oral hearing, concluded that section 56 of the Cooperatives Act must be interpreted to mean that the provision allows legal action also when an annual meeting decision has been replaced by a new decision at the next annual meeting. The provision is connected to section 5-22 of the Companies Act, and case law and legal literature relating to this provision and its predecessors do not require demonstration of a genuine need to bring an action, as opposed to under section 1-3 of the Dispute Act. It is sufficient that the claimant can be placed in one of the categories listed in the provision.