Faroese court ruling on Runavík election dispute will not be appealed

The Faroese Finance Ministry will not be allowed to take its case over the suspended 2024 municipal election in Runavík to the Supreme Court, public broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya reports.

The Process Permission Board (Procesbevillingsnævnet) has denied the ministry’s request to appeal a lower court ruling that temporarily blocked the election results. The board determined that the legal proceedings were not yet concluded, making an appeal premature.

The dispute began after the Faroese Court (Føroya Rættur) ruled in January that five council members from the 2024 election could not assume office until allegations of electoral fraud were resolved. The Finance Ministry had sought to challenge that decision in the Supreme Court, but the board rejected the application without providing detailed reasoning.

The case stems from a November announcement by the Attorney General that a new election would be held in Runavík after fraud allegations surfaced regarding the previous vote. The legal battle between the five council members and the ministry over the election’s validity remains ongoing in the Faroese Court.