Departementets

Departementets is the possessive form of Departementet, the Norwegian term for a government ministry. It is used in official and administrative writing to indicate that something belongs to or is the responsibility of a specific ministry. Examples include Departementets budsjett (the ministry’s budget) or Departementets ansvarsområde (the ministry’s area of responsibility). The form helps attribute policies, decisions, or resources to the correct ministry.

In the Norwegian government, a departement (ministry) is a central executive unit led by a minister (statsråd) and supported by an administrative head, the departementsråd (permanent secretary). The department administers policy within its portfolio, proposes legislation, and oversees agencies and programs tied to its remit. The possessive form Departementets appears in contexts where one ministry’s actions or documents are being described.

The plural for several ministries is Departementene, and the plural possessive is Departementenes. For instance, Departementenes rapportering would refer to the reporting produced by multiple departments. The term departementet itself derives from the French département and has become standard in Norwegian governmental and administrative language.

Departementets thus functions primarily as a grammatical form used to relate nouns to a specific ministry, enabling precise attribution in legal texts, policy documents, and public discussion. It is distinct from the plural Departementene, which refers to the ministries collectively.