PRESS RELEASE FROM BAUDENBACHER LAW AG. RECEIVED ON 15 APRIL 2025
What is the NAV scandal? The NAV scandal came to light in 2019. It stemmed from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration’s (NAV) misinterpretation of European Economic Area (EEA) regulations, specifically regarding the eligibility of social security benefits for individuals residing in other EEA countries. In response, the Norwegian government established an investigative committee, which released the “Blindsonen” report in 2020, highlighting the widespread institutional shortcomings. NAV incorrectly required recipients of certain benefits—such as sickness and care allowances—to remain in Norway, leading to over 80 wrongful convictions for social security fraud, 7,510 people have so far been identified as affected, and 793 individuals being unjustly ordered to repay benefits. NAV’s error may have been present since the EEA agreement’s implementation in 1994.
Source: NewsinEnglish, Rett24, Frifagbevegelse, Khrono, VG, NAV, NRK, and TV2.
The Supreme Court’s appeals committee (Høyesteretts ankeutvalg), consisting of judges Ragnhild Noer, Bergljot Webster and Eyvin Sivertsen, has rejected the appeal request from the victims of the NAV scandal. As usual, no reasons were given. The appeals committee has thus followed the arguments of the Government Attorney. The judiciary has not lived up to the promise that the then Prime Minister Erna Solberg made after the scandal became known in late 2019, that every stone would be turned over to find the guilty. It is striking that all three members of the appeals committee spent their formative years as employees of the Government Attorney and the Ministry of Justice.
For 30 years, NAV made the payment of benefits dependent on the physical presence of those entitled to social security benefits on Norwegian soil. This was a clear violation of the passive freedom to provide services guaranteed by the EEA Agreement. The lower courts, Oslo District Court and Borgarting Court of Appeal, could not help but acknowledge these serious violations of the law. However, they took the incomprehensible position that the government and the NAV management were not at fault. This is clearly contrary to the facts of the case. NAV ran an illegal espionage organization abroad, particularly in Spain, which regularly reported in the press about its successes in the hunt for alleged Norwegian criminals. It cannot be assumed that Norwegian ministers do not read the newspaper. The government has also actively worked to ensure that welfare benefits are not paid abroad, and after a defeat in the EFTA Court in case E-3/12 Jonsson, it compensated the winning plaintiff, a Swedish migrant worker, with the aim of preventing a Norwegian court from setting a precedent. This breach of the principle of loyalty in Article 3 of the EEA Agreement meant that the illegal practice could continue for many more years. All of this was invoked in two instances, but to no avail.
Over 50 innocent victims of the Norwegian state have been imprisoned and treated in an inhuman and degrading manner. They have received completely inadequate compensation. Around 100,000 victims have been denied benefits to which they are entitled under the law, or have had to pay them back. They were denied any form of redress.
The Supreme Court itself was involved in the crime and thus does not have clean hands (Supreme Court of Gran Canaria , Rt. 2012, 313). According to Professor Tarjei Bekkedal at the University of Oslo, this is the biggest legal scandal since World War II. Yet the Norwegian nomenklatura has not seen the writing on the wall.
After the scandals with the treatment of the German children and the North Sea divers with burst lungs, the authorities have now caused a new failure.
Time is of the essence. This case was a pilot case that was to be followed by a class action lawsuit. The victims of the Norwegian state are dying. The third plaintiff in the case, Marianne Evensen, unfortunately passed away a few months ago.
The surviving plaintiffs will appeal the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. They will become represented by Baudenbacher Law AG, Zurich/Oslo/ Brussels .
More information: https://baudenbacher.law/oslo-tingrett-renders-judgment-in-norwegian-nav-pilot-case/
