Jehovah's Witnesses lose registration as a religious community.
The state administrator in Oslo and Viken has decided to withdraw Jehovah's Witnesses' registration as a religious community under the Religious Communities Act.

Published 22.12.2022
We sent a notice to Jehovah's Witnesses about the possible loss of registration on 25 October this year. In the notice, we asked for feedback on whether they wanted to rectify the conditions that led to the refusal of state subsidies. The community has not wanted to correct the conditions that led to the denial of state grants in 2021, and they express that they still disagree with the decision to deny grants.

Earlier this year, Jehovah's Witnesses were denied state funding for 2021 due to a breach of the Religious Communities Act. In our opinion, the religious community violates the members' right to freedom of expression. We believe this violates the members' right to freedom of religion. We also believe that they violate children's rights by allowing the exclusion of baptized minors, and by encouraging members to socially isolate children who do not follow the religious community's rules.

According to the Religious Communities Act, a community can have its registration withdrawn if they violate the provisions of the law. We have come to the conclusion that Jehovah's Witnesses violate the members' right to free expression of religious communities and that they violate children's rights. On this background, we have come to the conclusion that the society cannot be registered under the Religious Societies Act. We believe that this corresponds to the provisions of the Religious Communities Act.

Loss of registration means that the community no longer has the right to submit claims for state subsidies. It also means that society loses the authority to marry. They are nevertheless free to practice their religion and their activities regardless of public registration, as the Religious Communities Act is essentially a subsidy act.

You can find the decision in the right margin of this page.