Tolga brothers in case against state and municipality – VG

Thus, the so-called Tolga case ends up in the judicial system.

The brothers’ lawyer, Nicolai V. Skjerdal, writes in a press release that the Fend law firm has filed a lawsuit against the Tolga municipality and the state at the Ministry of Justice on behalf of the brothers.

The brothers demand up to 500,000 crowns each from the municipality and up to a million each from the state.

– The two brothers were incorrectly registered with the municipality for several years as mentally retarded. During these years, the municipality received several million crowns in accordance with the state support plan for the care of the mentally disabled of the municipalities. Furthermore, the two brothers were placed under guardianship against their will without a legal basis, writes Skjerdal.

Skjerdal writes that they have notified the municipality and the state in advance to give them the unrepentant opportunity to remedy the injustice committed against the Holøyen brothers.

– The municipality and the state apologize for what the brothers have been exposed to, but neither the municipality nor the state will give a penny in compensation. Sorry is not enough. We believe that the authorities are responsible for the damages.

Lars Peder (36) and Magnus Holøyen (27) was registered as mentally retarded by the municipality without having the diagnosis and then placed under guardianship against his will.

This summer, they sent a notice of demand to the Tolga municipality and the state, demanding 1.5 million crowns each in compensation.

The claim was rejected by both the state and the municipality.

Skjerdal writes that the brothers demand that the municipality pay a reparation to each of the brothers with up to 500,000 crowns, while the state must pay up to one million crowns to each of the brothers.

– The case raises important questions that are also important outside the case of the siblings. First, there is the question of whether reparations of this kind can be based directly on the European Convention on Human Rights. Second, it is a question of whether municipalities can be held liable for non-compliance with the Convention.

– The essence of the case is that we face serious violations as a consequence of the illegal exercise of authority, which must carry responsibility where responsibility corresponds.

Tolga Municipality attorney Kristian Foss Aalmo tells VG that he will not comment on the case until he has reviewed the subpoena with Tolga Municipality.

VG has previously had access to the justification of the municipality of Tolga. It indicates that the claim is rejected because the municipality considers that it is not correct to sue it.

The brothers have accused Tolga of violating the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and, according to the municipality, only the state can be held responsible for human rights violations.

Therefore, the claim for compensation should be addressed to the State, believes the municipality.

On October 15, the Ministry of Justice informed VG that it would not comment on the claim for reparation.

This is the case

VG wrote in October 2018 that Tolga’s three brothers in Hedmark unaware that they had been registered as mentally retarded since 2012 and 2013.

The brothers were placed under guardianship against their will by the Hedmark County Governor.

Following investigation, one of the brothers was diagnosed with moderate mental retardation in 2014. In February 2018, it was established in an investigation that the other two brothers do not have mental retardation.

When VG discussed the claim for compensation on September 15, attorney Kristian Foss Aalmo, who represents the Tolga municipality in the case, said the following:

– Since the municipality should have been responsible, we continue to believe that there is no violation of the provisions that have been expressed. And since there should have been a violation, we believe there is no basis for compensation in any case, Kristian Foss Aalmo said.

He also believes that NOK 1.5 million each is too high a requirement, noting that in other judgments between NOK 25,000 and 40,000 have been awarded in reparation for violations of the European Commission on Human Rights (ECHR).

On Friday afternoon, VG received this comment from the Ministry of Justice:

– The state has apologized for the case. It was very unfortunate that the Holøyen brothers received guardianship against their will. The brothers’ case contributed to a major cleanup in the field of guardianship, and has been done much later to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

The Ministry notes that the guardianship authority, among other things, has carried out an important review of cases of guardianship of older people to find out if more people have guardianship against their will.

– The review led by 255 guardianship has been revoked. The Ministry is working on changes to the regulations to make it clear that ordinary guardianship cases must be voluntary.

The Ministry writes that nothing has emerged so far in the case that constitutes the basis for the State’s liability for damages.

– Beyond this, the ministry has no comment on the lawsuit.