New Norwegian judge appointed to EFTA Court

Professor Per Christiansen has been appointed by the three EEA EFTA States as the new Norwegian judge on the EFTA Court in Luxembourg.

“Professor Christiansen has long experience in a wide range of areas of EEA law,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Per Christiansen is currently professor at the University of Tromsø, where he teaches courses in EU and EEA law, constitutional law and international law. He also has legal experience from Norges Bank and the Ministry of Finance. In addition, he served as Counsellor for Finance at the Norwegian Mission to the EU and Registrar of the EFTA Court, and has practised as a lawyer.

Professor Christiansen will take up his new post on 17 January 2011. He is succeeding Henrik Bull, who has served as Norwegian judge on the Court since 1 January 2006.

The EFTA Court was established to settle disputes and give advisory opinions to Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein on the interpretation of the EEA Agreement. Thus, its jurisdiction corresponds largely to that of the Court of Justice of the European Union over EU Member States.