Lars Fause

Fause is originally from Balsfjord, a municipality in Troms og Finnmark.[1] Fause graduated from the University of Tromsø in 1991 with a Master of Studies in Law.[2] Much of his family lives in Tromsø, where Fause resides when not in Svalbard.[3]

Following his graduation, Fause worked for the Oslo Police District as an assistant.[2] 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.[2] 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.[2]

In 2008, Fause accepted a position as deputy governor of Svalbard, which he held until 2011.[4] 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".[5] After leaving office, he returned to his former position as chief prosecutor in Troms og Finnmark.[2] He held this position in his second stint from 2011 to 2020,[2] when he resigned to avoid a conflict of interest with his spouse.[6]

Fause took office as governor on 24 June 2021, following the departure of term-limited Governor Kjerstin Askholt.[2] He was selected over several other applicants, including judges Jørn Holme and Cecilie Østensen Berglund. 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.[7]

Fause is the first governor of Svalbard to have the gender-neutral title Sysselmester instead of the traditional masculine title Sysselmannen;[7] both words translate to English as 'governor', but the change was required as part of Norway's effort to replace gendered governmental titles.[8]