30 April – The registered partnership civil union law is passed.
1 August – The registered partnership civil union law comes into effect, granting same-sex couples the same rights as married couples, except for the right to adopt or marry in a church.
6 August – Kim Friele and Wenche Lowzow commit to the first civil union partnership under the new law.[1]
10 August – Black metal musician Varg Vikernes murders Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth, another black metal musician. Vikernes gets sentenced to 21 years in prison (maximum sentence under Norwegian law).
11 October – The Norwegian publisher William Nygaard is shot three times outside his home in Dagaliveien in Oslo. Suspects of the assassination attempt are Islamists who reacted to Nygaard publishing the Norwegian edition of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses.