Christian Selmer

Christian August Selmer

Christian August Selmer (born November 16, 1816 in Fredrikshald , † September 1, 1889 in Bygdøy ) was a Norwegian lawyer and politician.

Life

His parents were the wholesale merchant Johan Christian Selmer (1783–1830) and his wife Johanne Ditlevine Michea Vsibe (1788–1879). On December 24, 1848, he married Anna Sylvia Leganger (October 4, 1825 - January 5, 1896), daughter of the Sorenskrivers Henrik Leganger (1788–1874) and his wife Christiane Cathrine Dass (1794–1865).

Selmer grew up in Halden and began studying law in 1837, which he graduated with honors in 1842. He began his career initially as a representative of the Sorenskriver in Hedmark , then in 1846 he became a copyist in Christiania : first in the Justice Department, later in the Finance Department. In 1849 he was appointed agent of the procurator PA Midelfart in Drammen. He took this position two years later. From 1862 to 1874 he was Byfogd in Drammen. Until 1872 he was also mayor there.

Selmer had no political ambitions. It was only out of a sense of duty that he was elected as Stortings' deputy for Drammen in 1870 and stood for re-election in 1873. He also took over the post of army minister in 1874 without ambition. As a member of parliament, he opposed the expansion of the right to vote and the admission of members of the government to the Storting meetings, as he feared a shift in the balance of power prescribed by the constitution in connection with the separation of powers. A passionate supporter of the existing system, he was soon appointed to the government. When he was appointed minister of state to succeed Stang in 1880 , it was because the king regarded him as particularly loyal to him - unlike Stang. For both the Høyre and the Venstre he was considered a political lightweight, and he did not succeed in giving his term of office a personal stamp. His weak heart also meant that he had to stay away from many cabinet meetings.

The majority of the Venstre in Storting tried to force a change of government by trying to make the position of his government untenable by rejecting all budget approvals and by resolutions that interfered with the administration. She also followed up on earlier requests to be able to cite the ministers before the Storting. The king had rejected these decisions every time. After the corresponding resolution had been passed for the third time and rejected for the third time, a constitutional conflict developed from it, which has gone down in Norwegian constitutional history as a "State Council matter". The government expected that a steadily growing segment of the population would turn against the aggressive nationalist course of the Venstre and their attack on the existing social order. But the election of Storting in 1882 resulted in another defeat for the government. Venstre prevailed in many places that traditionally belong to the Høyre. Venstre received the Reichsgericht majority: all seats in the Lagting and the majority in the Odelsting fell to her. But Selmer was determined to continue the fight until the next election and trusted the support of the king, and there was a renewed dispute between the royal government and the Storting as to whether the king had an absolute right of veto on constitutional amendments. In the period that followed, there were further conflicts in which the Storting saw themselves as violated in their rights.

The refusal of the government under Selmer to recommend that the king approve the bill led to an indictment against all members of the government before the Imperial Court and to their conviction and thus to the loss of office. The question now was whether the king would submit to the judgment. Because according to the constitution, the king set up the government. Then neither the Storting nor the Reichsgericht could remove the government. An acceptance of the judgment by the king meant the transition to parliamentarism with ministerial responsibility before the Storting. Selmer saw this as a revolution that even had to be fought with military means if necessary. He also believed that the king should ignore the judgment of the Imperial Court. But the remaining members of the government forced the king to recognize the judgment of February 27, 1884, and Selmer resigned on March 1, 1884 and received his departure on March 11.

Selmer was not discouraged and stood for the election of a chairman for the newly founded party "Høyre" in 1884. He saw himself as a martyr for the right cause in a purely political process. But he received only nine votes. The party rejected Frederik Stang's political system , which Selmer had advocated, and turned to Emil Stang's moderately conservative policy .

He then held the post of general auditor for the army and navy.

He received the Grand Cross of the North Star Order in 1880, the Order of St. Olav in 1882 and was also knight of the Serafine Order .

Remarks

The article is essentially taken from the Norsk biografisk leksikon . Any other information is shown separately.

^ Copyist is the term used for subordinate employees in a ministry. The designation was abolished in 1899, but remained in the audit department (audit office) until 1910.
↑ Department is the name for a ministry.
↑ Procurator at that time was the title of a royally appointed lawyer at a lower and higher court.
↑ Byfogd was the name of a single judge in places that did not have a collegiate court.
↑ Minister of State was the designation for the head of government, i.e. the prime minister. He was installed by the king.
↑ The "Høyre" was not a political party at that time, but a group of conservative MPs within the Storting. It only came into being as a party in the autumn of 1884.
^ Internet site of the Norwegian government about Selmer.
↑ The general auditor supervised the administration of justice within the armed forces. He prepared expert opinions for the court martial on difficult legal issues. Serious judgments were before him and he was empowered to reject them. Otherwise he forwarded them to the king for confirmation or suggested changes to him.

literature

KV Hammer: Selmer, Christian August . In: Theodor Westrin, Ruben Gustafsson Berg, Eugen Fahlstedt (eds.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 25 : Sekt – Slöjskifling . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1917, Sp. 38 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
Paul Thyness: Christian Selmer . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon ; Retrieved October 5, 2010.
Norwegian government website

predecessor	Office	successor
Frederik Stang	Prime Minister of Norway 1880 - 1884	Christian Homann Schweigaard

personal data
SURNAME	Selmer, Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Selmer, Christian August (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Norwegian lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	November 16, 1816
PLACE OF BIRTH	Fredrikshald
DATE OF DEATH	September 1, 1889
Place of death	Bygdøy

[Kopist-1] Copyist is the term used for subordinate employees in a ministry. The designation was abolished in 1899, but remained in the audit department (audit office) until 1910.

[Departement-2] Department is the name for a ministry.

[Prokurator-3] Procurator at that time was the title of a royally appointed lawyer at a lower and higher court.

[Byfogd-4] Byfogd was the name of a single judge in places that did not have a collegiate court.

[Staatsminister-5] Minister of State was the designation for the head of government, i.e. the prime minister. He was installed by the king.

[Hoyre-6] The "Høyre" was not a political party at that time, but a group of conservative MPs within the Storting. It only came into being as a party in the autumn of 1884.

[nr-7] Internet site of the Norwegian government about Selmer.

[Generalauditeur-8] The general auditor supervised the administration of justice within the armed forces. He prepared expert opinions for the court martial on difficult legal issues. Serious judgments were before him and he was empowered to reject them. Otherwise he forwarded them to the king for confirmation or suggested changes to him.