Lars Fause
{{Short description|Norwegian civil servant (born 1965)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Lars Fause
|image = Assistant Governor of Svalbard, Lars Fause.png
|caption = Fause in 2010
|office = Governor of Svalbard
|term_start = 24 June 2021
|term_end =
|predecessor = Kjerstin Askholt
|successor =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|2|20|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Balsfjord, Norway
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party =
|spouse = Anett Beatrix Osnes
|alma_mater = University of Tromsø (M.S.L.)
|signature =
}}
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.{{cite web |last1=Skoglund |first1=Kari Anne |title=Nå blir Lars Fause (56) den første sysselmesteren: – Jeg er fra ei Svalbard-bygd på fastlandet, så det gjør det ekstra artig |url=https://nye-troms.no/nyheter/na-blir-lars-fause-regjeringas-representant-pa-svalbard-igjen/19.20454 |website=Nye Troms |access-date=20 October 2021 |language=no |date=9 April 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020050622/https://nye-troms.no/nyheter/na-blir-lars-fause-regjeringas-representant-pa-svalbard-igjen/19.20454 |url-status=live }} Fause graduated from the University of Tromsø in 1991 with a Master of Studies in Law. Much of his family lives in Tromsø, where Fause resides when not in Svalbard.{{cite web |last1=Jonassen |first1=Trine |title=«This is the Only Thing that I Want», Says Norway's New Svalbard Governor |url=https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/only-thing-i-want-says-norways-new-svalbard-governor |website=High North News |access-date=20 October 2021 |language=en |date=26 May 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020050618/https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/only-thing-i-want-says-norways-new-svalbard-governor |url-status=live }}
Career
Following his graduation, Fause worked for the Oslo Police District as an assistant. 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. 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.
In 2008, Fause accepted a position as deputy governor of Svalbard, which he held until 2011.{{cite web |title=Svalbard's First Gender-Neutral Governor |url=https://icepeople.net/2021/07/01/svalbards-first-gender-neutral-governor-lars-fause-former-second-in-command-returns-10-years-later-to-top-spot-with-first-ever-title-of-sysselmester-instead-of-sysselmannen/ |website=IcePeople |access-date=20 October 2021 |date=1 July 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020050618/https://icepeople.net/2021/07/01/svalbards-first-gender-neutral-governor-lars-fause-former-second-in-command-returns-10-years-later-to-top-spot-with-first-ever-title-of-sysselmester-instead-of-sysselmannen/ |url-status=live }} 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".{{cite web |last1=Skeie |first1=Torgeir |title=Bortvist fra Svalbard |url=https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/bortvist-fra-svalbard-1.6266225 |website=NRK |access-date=20 October 2021 |language=nb-NO |date=16 October 2008 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020050616/https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/bortvist-fra-svalbard-1.6266225 |url-status=live }} After leaving office, he returned to his former position as chief prosecutor in Troms og Finnmark. He held this position in his second stint from 2011 to 2020, when he resigned to avoid a conflict of interest with his spouse.{{cite web |last1=Kolsrud |first1=Kjetil |title=Førstestatsadvokat Lars Fause går av etter 17 år som sjef |url=https://rett24.no/articles/forstestatsadvokat-lars-fause-gar-av-etter-17-ar-som-sjef |website=Rett24 |access-date=20 October 2021 |language=no |date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020050617/https://rett24.no/articles/forstestatsadvokat-lars-fause-gar-av-etter-17-ar-som-sjef |url-status=live }}
Fause took office as governor on 24 June 2021, following the departure of term-limited Governor Kjerstin Askholt.{{cite web |title=The Current Governor |url=https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/the-governor-of-svalbard/the-current-governor/ |website=Governor of Svalbard |access-date=20 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020050618/https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/the-governor-of-svalbard/the-current-governor/ |url-status=live }} He was selected over several other applicants, including judges Jørn Holme and Cecilie Østensen Berglund.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} 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.
Fause is the first governor of Svalbard to have the gender-neutral title {{lang|nb|Sysselmester}} instead of the traditional masculine title {{lang|no|Sysselmannen}};{{cite web |last1=Wenger |first1=Michael |title=New governor appointed for Svalbard |url=https://polarjournal.ch/en/2021/04/12/new-governor-appointed-for-svalbard/ |website=PolarJournal |access-date=20 October 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020050619/https://polarjournal.ch/en/2021/04/12/new-governor-appointed-for-svalbard/ |url-status=live }} both words translate to English as 'governor', but the change was required as part of Norway's effort to replace gendered governmental titles.{{Cite news |date=13 November 2020 |title=Sexless 'State' Government: Language Council recommends Sysselmannen ('governor') be renamed Svalbard Syssel ('country subdivision') to meet gender-neutral requirement |work=Ice People |url=http://icepeople.net/2020/11/13/sexless-state-government-language-council-recommends-sysselmannen-governor-be-renamed-svalbard-syssel-country-subdivision-to-meet-gender-neutral-requirement/ |access-date=20 October 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020123213/http://icepeople.net/2020/11/13/sexless-state-government-language-council-recommends-sysselmannen-governor-be-renamed-svalbard-syssel-country-subdivision-to-meet-gender-neutral-requirement/ |url-status=live }}
References
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{{s-ttl|title=Governor of Svalbard|years=2021–present}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fause, Lars}}
Category:Governors of Svalbard
Category:Norwegian civil servants
Category:20th-century Norwegian politicians
Category:21st-century Norwegian politicians
Category:Norwegian prosecutors