The Court of Appeal’s order set aside in case regarding petroleum fields in the North Sea

The case concerns a request for an interim measure regarding the invalidity of decisions approving plans for development and operation (PDOs) and a halt in the development and production on three petroleum fields in the North Sea.

The question before the Supreme Court was whether the Court of Appeal had interpreted the rules on interim measures in section 34-1 of the Dispute Act correctly. 

The Court of Appeal’s basis – based on overarching societal considerations – was that it lacked jurisdiction to grant the request for an interim measure since the case involved greenhouse gas emissions from petroleum extraction. 

The Supreme Court concluded that this is an incorrect interpretation of the law and set the order aside. 

The Supreme Court did not itself consider the principal claim for invalidity, or the necessity of the interim measure (“basis of security”) and the proportionality thereof, but stated that the Court of Appeal must base its new assessment on the following: 

• If one or more of the basic conditions for an interim measure in section 34-1 of the Dispute Act – a principal claim, basis of security and proportionality – are not met, an interim measure cannot be granted. 

• The proportionality assessment under section 34-1 subsection 2 is concrete and cannot be based on any limited jurisdiction of the courts. 

• If it is substantiated that the EU Project Directive is violated and the conditions are otherwise met, the jurisdiction of the courts granted through the «may» discretion in section 34-1 subsection 1 must in this case be exercised to grant an interim measure.  

The order clarifies the content of section 34-1 of the Dispute Act. 

Read the order from the Supreme Court (Norwegian only) (PDF)

Area of law: Civil procedure

Key paragraphs: 57-61

Justices: Falkanger, Bergsjø, Falch, Høgetveit Berg, Sæther