Abstract

Historically, Norwegian jurisprudence has been characterized by a strong legal positivist approach. Some scholars have argued that this has amounted to a rejection of anything that could not be positively verified, including notions of human rights, duties, and values. It is perhaps unsurprising then that Norwegian law, both legislation and case law, has historically made only very few references to the notion of human dignity. Human dignity is a concept that plays a much more limited role in Norwegian judicial reasoning than it does in other European countries. This animosity to rights discourse and value-based reasoning is dissipating, however, and this change is most evident in the recent 2014 amendments to the Norwegian Constitution. Among other significant changes, the Norwegian Constitution now includes a single reference to human dignity in relation to the rights of children in Article 104. This may mean that the concept of human dignity will come to play a much more significant role in Norwegian law in the coming years.