Norway
Practice Relating to the Prohibition of Certain Types of Landmines
Norway’s Anti-Personnel Mines Act (1998) provides:
It is prohibited to use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile or transfer anti-personnel mines contrary to the Convention of 18 September 1997 on the prohibition, use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction.
In 1995, during a debate in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, Norway stated that it would “continue to work for a total ban on the production, stockpiling, trade and use of anti-personnel land-mines”.
Norway was one of the key members of the core group of countries that took responsibility for developing and promoting the mine ban treaty and played a central role in the “Ottawa Process” which led to the adoption of a treaty banning anti-personnel landmines in 1997. The Norwegian Government was instrumental in the shaping of the Final Declaration of the Brussels Conference on Anti-personnel Landmines in June 1997.
The Norwegian Government also took on the responsibility of hosting the final treaty negotiations in Oslo from 1–18 September 1997.
In 2009, in a statement at the Second Review Conference of the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Mines, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs stated:
Women, girls, boys and men are killed and injured by anti-personnel mines … every day.
There are still too many survivors who are denied basic human rights and are unable to live a life in dignity.
This is unacceptable and we are here … to ensure that this situation is brought to an end.
Compliance with the obligations of the Mine Ban Convention is the most effective way of doing so.