{{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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> Fause graduated from the University of Tromsø in 1991 with a Master of Studies in Law.<ref name="govt"/> Much of his family lives in Tromsø, where Fause resides when not in Svalbard.<ref name="highnorth">{{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 }}</ref>
==Career== Following his graduation, Fause worked for the Oslo Police District as an assistant.<ref name="govt"/> 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.<ref name="govt"/> 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.<ref name="govt"/>
In 2008, Fause accepted a position as deputy governor of Svalbard, which he held until 2011.<ref name="gender">{{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 }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{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 }}</ref> After leaving office, he returned to his former position as chief prosecutor in Troms og Finnmark.<ref name="govt"/> He held this position in his second stint from 2011 to 2020,<ref name="govt"/> when he resigned to avoid a conflict of interest with his spouse.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
Fause took office as governor on 24 June 2021, following the departure of term-limited Governor Kjerstin Askholt.<ref name="govt">{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="polarjournal"/>
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}};<ref name="polarjournal">{{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 }}</ref> both words translate to English as 'governor', but the change was required as part of Norway's effort to replace gendered governmental titles.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-civ}} {{s-bef|before=Kjerstin Askholt}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of Svalbard|years=2021–present}} {{s-aft|after=Incumbent}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fause, Lars}} Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Governors of Svalbard Category:Norwegian civil servants Category:20th-century Norwegian politicians Category:21st-century Norwegian politicians Category:Norwegian prosecutors Category:People from Balsfjord Municipality Category:University of Tromsø alumni