NORWAY: Statement at the International Religious Freedom webinar held in Washington DC
Willy Fautré
HRWF (20.01.2026) – In an increasing number of democratic countries – such as Japan, South Korea or the Czech Republic – the state has launched procedures to ban or to deregister minority religious communities on the basis of unfounded and spurious accusations.
Another country must now be added to the list: Norway.
In 2022, the Norwegian State deregistered Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious association and deprived them from state grants without any valid reason.
This last measure deviated from Norway’s historical non-discriminatory policy of financing assistance to all religions, which was until then internationally praised.
These very restrictive decisions targeting Jehovah’s Witnesses are still being challenged in courts.
Two reasons are given by the State to justify these extreme measures.
First, children of Jehovah’s Witnesses are allegedly victims of psychological violence and indoctrination because of the guiding principles of the religious movement about parental education.
Second, the exclusion of members for behaviours gravely breaching the values of the religious association is accompanied by a limitation of personal contacts with the disfellowshipped congregants. The understanding of this practice is distorted by the state in such a way that it becomes some form of ostracization and incitement to hatred.
On 30 December 2022, the Oslo District Court granted a temporary injunction of suspension of the deregistration of Jehovah’s Witnesses until it would be able to examine the case on its merits.
In March 2023, the Ministry of Children and Families challenged the injunction.
In April 2023: The District Court decided to remove the injunction. As a result, Jehovah’s Witnesses were de facto stripped again of their registration.
In March 2024: The Oslo District Court upheld the decision of deregistration and denied Jehovah’s Witnesses the state subsidies they had received for 30 years.
Jehovah’s Witnesses appealed the decision.
14 March 2025: The Borgarting Court of Appeal fully vindicated Jehovah’s Witnesses in that the previous decisions to deny state grants and registration were declared invalid.
The State of Norway appealed the decision.
In less than two weeks, the Supreme Court of Norway will examine the appeal of the state and this will lead to a final decision at the national level.
Beyond the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, what is at stake here is the right of parents to educate their children according to their religious values.
What is also a challenge is the attempt of the state to interfere into the beliefs and practices of religious organizations despite repeated rulings of the European Court. In this case, the exclusion of members about which a state cannot claim to have a say.
The upcoming decision of the Supreme Court in two weeks is of vital importance for all religions in Norway and beyond because it will be used as a reference in other countries.
