Small claims in Norway: the forliksrådet
If someone owes you money and will not pay, the forliksrådet is where most disputes in Norway start. It is a conciliation board, not a court of professional judges, and it is built for people who bring their own case. This page explains how it works. It is written for people who live in Norway but do not read Norwegian.
The complaint itself must be written in Norwegian
This is not our rule. The Courts of Justice Act (domstolloven) § 136 requires written pleadings to be in Norwegian, or accompanied by a translation. Documents you attach as evidence must also come with a translation if they are in another language.
So: read this page in English, then file in Norwegian. Our paid service produces the document in Norwegian, and you have to read and approve it before it is sent — which means you need someone who reads Norwegian to go through it with you. We would rather say that plainly than sell you an approval you cannot actually give.
What the forliksrådet is
Every municipality has one. It is made up of three lay members elected by the municipal council — not judges, not lawyers. The secretariat is run by the police. The board tries first to get the parties to agree. If that fails, it can issue a judgment in many cases, and that judgment is enforceable.
Most cases are about unpaid money: invoices, loans between private individuals, deposits, work that was paid for and not delivered. A case takes roughly 107 days on average.
Does your dispute belong there?
Several common disputes do not, and going to the wrong place costs you months.
- Renting a home. Disputes between landlord and tenant — deposits, rent, damage — go to Husleietvistutvalget (the Tenancy Dispute Committee), not the forliksrådet. It is the first instance for the whole country, the procedure is written, and the case handlers are specialists.
- Parking fines on private land. Handled free of charge by Parkeringsklagenemnda (the parking complaints board).
- Delayed or cancelled flights. Transportklagenemnda (the transport complaints board) handles these free of charge — although the forliksrådet is what gives you an enforceable decision if the airline ignores the outcome.
- Family matters, cases against public authorities, patents and trade marks. Excluded by law.
- The other side has never objected. If the claim is undisputed, you can often skip the forliksrådet and go straight to the bailiff (namsmannen), which is faster and cheaper.
There is also a ceiling. If the amount in dispute is above 200 000 kroner and both sides have professional legal representation, the board cannot give a judgment — it can only attempt settlement.
The deadline that catches people out
Most claims in Norway expire after 3 years. Loans backed by a written promissory note last 10 years. Once a claim has expired, it is gone, and the board will not notice on your behalf — the other side has to raise it, and usually does.
What stops the clock is filing the complaint. Not a reminder, not a warning letter, not an email. If your deadline is close, that distinction is the whole case.
What it costs
The court fee is 2 071 kroner (1.54 times the court fee unit of 1 345 kroner, the rate in force since 2026). You do not pay it up front — it is invoiced by the Norwegian Tax Administration after the case ends.
If you win, you can claim your costs from the other side, but whether you get them is the board's decision, not a given.
Our own service costs 690 kroner, and you pay only after seeing the draft. Checking whether your case belongs in the forliksrådet at all is free.
Where to file
The main rule is the other side's home address or, for a company, its registered business address. As a consumer in a dispute with a business, you can often choose your own home municipality instead — but not if you went to their premises in person and made the agreement there.
Norway has 227 conciliation boards covering 357 municipalities, and the postal address is not always the one you would guess: the secretariat is the local police station, and six boards use a different address from their own secretariat.
Find the board for any municipality, with the address to post to. The list is in Norwegian, but municipality names and postal addresses are not.
You usually have to show up
If you live in the municipality the board covers, or a neighbouring one, you must attend in person or send a representative. If the claimant fails to show without a valid excuse, the case is dismissed.
Proceedings are in Norwegian. If you do not speak it, the board appoints or approves an interpreter — that is the board's decision under domstolloven § 135, not something you arrange yourself. Ask the secretariat about it well before the hearing.