Spanish seamen lost against the Norwegian state

Oslo District Court rape abuse psychosisOslo District Court.Photo Norway Today Media.

Spaniards who have not received a pension after working on Norwegian ships, lost their lawsuit against the Norwegian state.

The Norwegian state was sued in the Oslo district court by 212 Spanish seamen and their heirs through the Longhope interest organization.

12,000 Spanish seamen, who in the post-war period and until 1994 worked on Norwegian ships, were paying income tax, but not national pension contributions to Norway. Therefore they did not earn neither Spanish nor Norwegian pension points.

In the verdict from the Oslo District Court, the state was represented by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

– According to the court’s judgment, the Norwegian and Spanish sailors who worked on Norwegian ships were not in comparable situations.

Although both groups of people worked on Norwegian ships for shorter or longer periods and although both groups paid seamen’s tax on the salary they received from work on Norwegian ships to Norwegian authorities, there are so many differences between the groups of persons that the condition of comparable situations is not fulfilled, District Court judge, Jørgen Monn, writes.

– The Court attaches particular importance to the fact that the Spanish sailors (and their employers), unlike the Norwegian sailors (and their employers), have not paid contributions to the National Insurance Scheme and the Scheme for Sailors, he said.

According to the verdict, the parties must cover their own costs.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today

1 Comment on "Spanish seamen lost against the Norwegian state"

  1. Vaslav Smith | 11. May 2017 at 23:13 |

    The Kingdom of Norway argued the seamen could not have been members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme as they were not residents of Norway.
    1. Norwegian law 6.1.1 6.1.1 Persons deemed, for National Insurance purposes, to be resident in Norway
    Persons who are resident in Norway are as a rule obliged to be members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, cf. the National Insurance Act section 2-1. A person is deemed to be resident if his/her stay in Norway is intended or has lasted for at least 12 months. It is a condition that the person in question has a residence permit in Norway. Membership applies irrespective of the employee’s citizenship and the employer’s nationality.

    The seamen could never have been allowed to be registered as living in Norway as they would have been refused residence permits on the grounds they were not in Norway more than three months at a time.

    and

    2. Acoording to UDI … “In the Immigration Act of 1988 and the Immigration Regulations of 1990, right of residence was granted in the form of a residence permit issued on application to EEA nationals and their family members. Pursuant to the regulatory framework that applied at the time, it was not possible to be granted permanent right of residence in Norway.
    Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 has been implemented in Norwegian law in:
    • the Immigration Act of 2008 Chapter 13”

    I predict a tsunami of cases versus Norway in the European Court of Human Rights and frankly, compared to the cost of fighting these cases, it’d be cheaper, and better for Norway’s image in the world to give these seamen their pensions. It’s increasingly difficult for Norway to argue it has any moral high ground under its feet

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