Truls Olufsen-Mehus has reported Hammerfest Municipality to the police for violating the Act on Flags on Municipal Public Buildings §1. In this review, he explains what is behind the report, what documentation it is based on, and that he believes that more municipalities may be in the same situation.
Truls started by requesting access requests to Hammerfest Municipality regarding pride flagging on municipal flagpoles, which emails have been sent to principals from the municipal administration. Based on various information from parents and municipal employees, Truls sent several questions to the administration to clarify what had been decided and why. The municipality's response states, among other things, that the flagging was not linked to municipal events or activities, but that it was mainly a symbolic expression of the municipality's values.
This raises questions about whether such a practice is in accordance with the law on flagging on municipal public buildings. The text of the law makes the matter clear and unambiguous, and our lawyers have worked with the legal section and concluded the same: Raising pride flags on public flagpoles to show support for the values the flag represents does not meet the law's conditions for flagging. In order to have this assessed, Hammerfest Municipality has been reported to the police, so that the police can decide whether the law has been broken. The police are also marking pride, and the mayor tells the media that “he expects the case to be dropped”. This makes it potentially difficult to reach a conclusion, but Truls believes that it should be done, also so that it does not become a custom.
The review shows how the case is structured, what documents the assessments are based on, and why the same legal questions may be relevant in other municipalities. You will see what questions have been asked of the municipality, how the documentation has been collected, and what assessments form the basis for the report. Perhaps you would like to report your municipality for similar violations?
If you want to investigate the practice in your own municipality, the following documents may be useful:
Note: This case concerns a police report filed by Truls Olufsen-Mehus against Hammerfest Municipality. Kristent Ressurssenter publishes the review because the issue is of fundamental importance and may be relevant to municipalities, parents and others who wish to familiarize themselves with the regulations on public flagging and see whether there are municipalities that practice similar flagging. Offences should initially be reported to the police and good documentation will be of assistance to the police and the court, but even well-documented violations of the Public Flagging Act do not automatically mean that municipalities will be punished or convicted.
See the full review below 👇
