Berit Reiss-Andersen, Lawyer (H) MAIN FIELD OF WORK
Criminal law, child law and human rights issues
Berit Reiss-Andersen is a Norwegian lawyer, author and former politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. She served as President of the Norwegian Bar Association from 2008 to 2012. She is currently chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the 5-member committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reiss-Andersen served as state secretary for the Minister of Justice and Police from 1996 to 1997, and co-authored two crime novels with former Minister of Justice Anne Holt.
She was elected as a Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee by the Storting (Parliament) on 22 November 2011, and was nominated by the Norwegian Labour Party. Her term started 1 January 2012 and ends 31 December 2017. On 20 February 2017 she became the acting chairwoman of the committee. On 2 May 2017, she was formally appointed as the leader of the Nobel Committee.
ABSTRACT
Reflections on the position „in the middle“
The mediator is probably in the middle, and we imagine the mediator to be fair and balanced. But what is “fair” and what is “balanced”. It not necessarily to give a concession of 50/50 to each party. Some thoughts about exploring both international political conflicts and interactions and conflicts between individuals will be tested out. The law does not compromise on right and wrong, therapy seems to focus on understanding and diplomacy seems to focus on compromise – there are many paths to go right and wrong in the resolution of conflict. Another topic to explore is how we classify as “victim” and “perpetrator”. Today we might have a tendency to support none surviving skills by underlining the role as a victim, rather than supporting the role as a survivor of conflict or trauma.