6 September 2023 at 10:08 The Storting’s lawyers believe the Trettebergstuen case must be handed over to the civil prosecution The Storting’s lawyers believe Trettebergstuen cannot be impeached, but write that the case should be handed over to the civil prosecution. Before the summer, the control and constitutional committee asked the Storting’s constitutional department for advice on how to handle the Trettebergstuen case further. The background was an inquiry from law professor Eirik Holmøyvik at the University of Bergen. Holmøyvik has argued that Trettebergstuen should be investigated, either by the Storting’s accountability commission or by the police. Anette Trettebergstuen resigned as Minister of Culture after appointing two friends, and proposing a third, to various paid positions. Committee leader Peter Frølich (H) says they have now received a clear recommendation: – The Storting’s constitutional department has assessed whether a breach of the rules of competence can constitute a misconduct that can be prosecuted by impeachment. They conclude that such offenses alone cannot be brought before the Supreme Court. – If the control committee concludes that impeachment is not relevant, the committee must forward the inquiry about Trettebergstuen’s breach of integrity to the prosecution. This follows from the rules in the Storting’s rules of procedure. – I want to emphasize clearly that this is a procedural rule. A submission to the prosecuting authority will not mean that the Control Committee has taken a decision on whether the breaches of competence can be punishable. That is something the public prosecutor must decide on alone. “Based on the facts at hand, it seems clear that the conditions to which the inquiry in question relates cannot be prosecuted by impeachment. The committee can therefore reject the case directly in accordance with the Storting’s rules of procedure, section 15, third paragraph, first sentence, and shall, in that case, in accordance with the wording in fo. forward the inquiry to the appropriate prosecuting authority. This is a procedural rule, and such a submission does not indicate that the committee has taken a decision on whether the matter can or should be prosecuted by the prosecution. The committee does not then need to make a recommendation to the Storting,” write the lawyers in the letter to the Control and Constitution Committee.
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