Erik Strand, 11.07.2026
In his blog, Øystein Andresen comments on an attempt by the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, to impose a new law, Sivilbeskyttelsesloven [Civil protection law] that would have given the government wide and damngerous powers in a situation of crisis. Luckily, law professor Benedikte Moltumyr Høgberg was able to get attention about the sinsiter aspects of this law, and its worst parts were dropped.
Andresen puts the law in a historical context by describing the history of the so called Beredskapsloven (“The Preparedness law”). This law was adopted by the parliament in 1950 and has been called “The Black law”.
In 1950, the Labour government presented a law proposal to the so called “War law” or Preparedness law. This law would represent a farewell to judicial security. “Suspicious persons” were to be arrested and interned when the country was “Threathened by war” or “when the security of the state is at risk as a result of ongoing or threatened hostilities by foreign states or for other reasons”. Press censorship should be imposed.
The chapter on “Treason courts” in the proposed law opened for two options only: death sentence or acquittal. A sentence could not be appealed, and the death sentence should be effectuated within 24 hours.
The proposal met foierce opposition. The author Sigurd Hoel compared the proposal with thhe conditions under Hitler’s regime. Conservative Party politician John Lyng was also among those who opposed the proposed law.
The law was adpoted in a modified version in 1950. Prime minister Einar Gerhardsen was among those who held the opinion that the list of people who sholuld be interned, should be more comprehensive – “One should not follow the rule book when it comes to these persons”, Gerhardsen said.
In their book “The secret war, surveillance in Norway 1914 – 1997” the historians Trond Bergh and Knut Einar Eriksen revealed that 40 persons in the far left Workers’s Communist Party / Red electoral Alliance (predecessor of today’s parliamentary party Red) were to be interned. They constituted 20 % of those who were to be interned, Bergh and Eriksen, whom Andresen describes as security cleared people loyal to the system, found that the official reasons why the persons from these parties were on the list in the 80’s was highly dubious.
Fampo 