Lars Fause

Lars Fause
Fause in 2010
Governor of Svalbard
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 June 2021
Preceded byKjerstin Askholt
Personal details
Born (1965-02-20) 20 February 1965 (age 59)
Balsfjord, Norway
Alma materUniversity of Tromsø (M.S.L.)

Lars Fause (born 20 February 1965) is a Norwegian prosecutor and civil servant serving as the governor of Svalbard since 2021.

Early life and education

Fause is originally from Balsfjord Municipality in Troms county.[1] Fause graduated from the University of Tromsø in 1991 with a Master of Studies in Law.[2] Much of his family lives in Tromsø, where Fause resides when not in Svalbard.[3]

Career

Following his graduation, Fause worked for the Oslo Police District as an assistant.[2] He also worked for a year as a police lawyer for the Troms Police District, and for the following two years at the Trondenes District Court as an assistant judge.[2] Fause worked from 1996 to 2002 as a public prosecutor at the public prosecution offices of Troms og Finnmark, and he received a promotion to the position of chief prosecutor in 2003.[2]

In 2008, Fause accepted a position as deputy governor of Svalbard, which he held until 2011.[4] He made headlines in October 2008 for becoming the first person to deny a person residence in Svalbard: a 28-year-old man who was said to be behind "many crimes".[5] After leaving office, he returned to his former position as chief prosecutor in Troms og Finnmark.[2] He held this position in his second stint from 2011 to 2020,[2] when he resigned to avoid a conflict of interest with his spouse.[6]

Fause took office as governor on 24 June 2021, following the departure of term-limited Governor Kjerstin Askholt.[2] He was selected over several other applicants, including judges Jørn Holme and Cecilie Østensen Berglund.[citation needed] He is limited to a maximum of two terms of three years each, according to the Svalbard Treaty, upon which point he would not be eligible for a third term.[7]

Fause is the first governor of Svalbard to have the gender-neutral title Sysselmester instead of the traditional masculine title Sysselmannen;[7] both words translate to English as 'governor', but the change was required as part of Norway's effort to replace gendered governmental titles.[8]

References

  1. ^ Skoglund, Kari Anne (9 April 2021). "Nå blir Lars Fause (56) den første sysselmesteren: – Jeg er fra ei Svalbard-bygd på fastlandet, så det gjør det ekstra artig". Nye Troms (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "The Current Governor". Governor of Svalbard. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ Jonassen, Trine (26 May 2021). "«This is the Only Thing that I Want», Says Norway's New Svalbard Governor". High North News. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Svalbard's First Gender-Neutral Governor". IcePeople. 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  5. ^ Skeie, Torgeir (16 October 2008). "Bortvist fra Svalbard". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  6. ^ Kolsrud, Kjetil (29 September 2020). "Førstestatsadvokat Lars Fause går av etter 17 år som sjef". Rett24 (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b Wenger, Michael. "New governor appointed for Svalbard". PolarJournal. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Sexless 'State' Government: Language Council recommends Sysselmannen ('governor') be renamed Svalbard Syssel ('country subdivision') to meet gender-neutral requirement". Ice People. 13 November 2020. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
Civic offices
Preceded by Governor of Svalbard
2021–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent