Erik Strand, 24.06.2023
Yesterday, Norway’s Culture Minister resigned when it was revealed that she as Culture Minister had proposed close fiends for public posts.
The Norwegian Public Administration Act (“forvaltningsloven”) has rules regulating when a person is incompetent (Norwegian: inhabil) to make a decision. The Public Adninistration Act § 6 says that a civil servant is incompetent to make a decision for example when he or she is affected by the decision, or when several positively mentioned close persons like spouses and close enough relatives are affected by the decision.
Section 2 of the Public Administration Act § 6 says that the civil servant is incompetent to make a decision when “other special circumstances exist which are apt to weaken confidence in his impartiality; among other things, emphasis must be placed on whether the decision in the case may involve particular advantage, loss or disadvantage for him or someone with whom he has a close personal connection. Emphasis must also be placed on whether an objection to invalidity has been raised by a party.”
When a civil servant is incompetent, section 3 of the Public Administration Act § 6 says that all civil servants subordinate to the civil servant are themselves incompetent when their superior is incompetent. The reason behind this rule is that a civil servant who is affected by a decision should not be able to just delegate to subordinate civil servants to make the decision and receive the benefits of loyal people making a decision in his favour.
Despite of the negative sound of the word ‘incompetent’, being ‘incompetent’ according to the Public Administration Act is not in itself bad. But when one is legally incompetent, one should not make a decision in the relevant case, and not leave to one’s subordinate civil servants to make the decision.
The latter is what Annette Trettebergstuen has done as Culture Minister. It is revealed that she had proposed a close friend to a well paid position. It has bekome known that she paid that she knew that she was incompetent to propose a close friend to a post, so she left to her secretary to formally propose her friend.
In a commentary in Norways largest newspaper, VG, with the title “Totally incredible”, journalist Hanne Skartveit writes:
“How is it possible to miss so fundamentally? Appoint some of your best friends to well-paid board positions. While you actually know that’s what you’re doing.”
Skartveit continues:
“Anette Trettebergstuen was warned. She even tried to trick the whole thing by asking her state secretary to propose Bård Nylund, close friend and godfather of her child, as board representative of the Norwegian Folk Museum.
So she knew she was incompetent, but tried to work around it. Does Anette Trettebergstuen really not know that as a minister she is responsible, anyway?
This is perhaps the most egregious act in the long series of mistakes we have now been made aware of. Because here we are talking about conscious actions. On purpose, simply.
Competence is absolutely fundamental for trust in those who govern us. We pay taxes and elect leaders who will manage both power and money on our behalf.”
Fampo 