The subject of the hearing was proposed amendments to the Immigration Act regarding the appointment of board members to the Immigration Appeals Board. Until Tuesday, all committee hearings had been cancelled since mid-March due to the current coronavirus pandemic. Instead, interested parties had been asked to submit their comments in writing.

Important democratic channel

“Hearings in the Storting ensure that political debates and decisions are well informed, and give interest groups the opportunity to influence the political process. Even in times of crisis, it’s very important to keep these democratic channels open. So I’m delighted that we’ve been able to arrange our first online hearing,” said Tone W. Trøen, President of the Storting,

With infection control measures in place throughout the country, only a few members of the Local Government and Public Administration Committee were physically present. The remaining MPs took part digitally, as did all the other participants.

The hearing was streamed live on stortinget.no in the usual way. It is available in the Storting’s video archive.

– People can take part from all over the country

“At present, web hearings are an emergency solution, but they also allow people from all over the country to take part. This can only be positive, because travel is expensive and time-consuming. If the result of online hearings is that more people are heard, then that’s great,” said Karin Andersen, chair of the Local Government and Public Administration Committee.

The current plan is for all forthcoming committee hearings in the Storting to take the form of videoconferences. The next two hearings on the agenda are in the Business and Industry Committee (30^th April) and the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee (11^th May).