Tor-Aksel Busch (born 17 March 1950) is a Norwegian lawyer and government official. He served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 1997 to 2019.

Tor-Aksel Busch
Born (1950-03-17) 17 March 1950 (age 74)
Oslo, Norway
Occupation(s)jurist and civil servant
AwardsNorwegian Police Cross of Honour (2019)

Career

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Born in Oslo on 17 March 1950, Busch graduated as a lawyer (cand.jur.) from the University of Oslo in 1974. From 1981 to 1987 he was a public prosecutor in Eidsivating, and from 1987 to 1997 assistant director of public prosecutions.[1]

In 1997 he was appointed as Norwegian Director of Public Prosecutions, succeeding Georg Fredrik Rieber-Mohn.[1][2] As director, he continued his predecessor's focus on environmental crimes and on cases on occupational safety and health. He also expressed that the solved number of cases on violence against women was too low.[2] Busch retired on 31 October 2019. During his career he prosecuted 138 cases for the Supreme Court.[3] At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-serving director of prosecution in Norway.[1] He was succeeded by Jørn Sigurd Maurud.[4]

His last week as Director of Public Prosecutions was dominated by starting cleanup after it was revealed that a years-long unlawful practice by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration had effected thousands of clients, including a number of fraud cases based on wrong premises.[3]

Awards

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Busch was the first recipient of the Rights Prize (Rettighetsprisen) in 2014, which he received for his work combating domestic violence.[5] He was awarded the Norwegian Police Cross of Honour in 2019.[6] He was also awarded the Norwegian Association of Lawyers' Rettssikkerhetsprisen [no] (Rule of Law Prize) in 2019[7] and the Stine Sofie's Foundation's Children's Rights Prize (Barnerettsprisen) in 2020. In 2021 he became a commander of the Order of St. Olav, Norway's highest honor.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bolstad, Erik (ed.). "Tor-Aksel Busch". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b Hætta, Odd Mathis (2008). "Busch, Tor-Aksel". In Åmås, Knut Olav (ed.). Hvem er hvem? (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug. pp. 85–86. ISBN 978-82-03-23561-0.
  3. ^ a b Kolsrud, Kjetil (31 October 2019). "Busch: – Min vakt er over". rett24.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  4. ^ Elden, John Christian. "Riksadvokaten". In Bolstad, Erik (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Busch får pris for sitt fokus på vold i nære relasjoner". Aftenposten. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Riksadvokat Tor-Aksel Busch mottar politiets høyeste utmerkelse". politiet.no (in Norwegian). 24 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Rettssikkerhetsprisen til Tor-Aksel Busch". rett24.no (in Norwegian). 4 September 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Utnevnelse til St. Olavs Orden". Royal Court. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
Legal offices
Preceded by Norwegian Director of Public Prosecutions
1997–2019
Succeeded by