{"id":17788,"date":"2025-06-24T10:10:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T08:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melo.no\/?p=17788"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:23:08","slug":"hvordan-tolkes-avtaler-etter-norsk-rett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melo.no\/en\/juridisk-innsikt\/kontrakt\/hvordan-tolkes-avtaler-etter-norsk-rett\/","title":{"rendered":"How are contracts interpreted under Norwegian law?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Most contractual disputes do not concern whether an agreement exists, but rather what the agreement actually means. Even well-drafted contracts can give rise to disagreements if the wording is unclear, incomplete, or fails to regulate a situation that later arises.<\/p>\n

In such cases, the contract must be interpreted. The purpose of contract interpretation is to determine the rights and obligations that the parties have actually undertaken. In this article, we take a closer look at the key principles governing the interpretation and supplementation of contracts under Norwegian law.<\/p>\n

When does a contract need to be interpreted?<\/h2>\n

The need for contract interpretation arises when there is uncertainty about what the parties have agreed upon. This may occur because the agreement contains ambiguous wording, conflicting provisions, or because the parties have different understandings of the meaning of particular terms.<\/p>\n

When courts interpret a contract, they do not look solely at the contractual text itself. The circumstances surrounding the conclusion of the agreement may also be relevant. Such circumstances are commonly referred to as interpretative factors or interpretative data.<\/p>\n

Examples of relevant interpretative factors include:<\/p>\n