NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE

formerly The Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Storting, group of five individuals responsible for selecting the annual winners of the Nobel Prize for Peace. Members are appointed to a six-year term on the committee by the Storting (the Norwegian parliament). Until 1936, members of the Norwegian government were elected to the Nobel Committee; controversy over the 1935 Peace Prize ended government involvement in the decision process, and in 1977 an official rule was adopted prohibiting members of the government from serving on the Nobel Committee. The name of the group was officially changed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the same year.