AMALIE LAKSOV’S (b. Scheer) Memorial Fund for the Protection of Human Rights was set up by Amalie Laksov in 1983, in the memory of her four brothers, Carl, Benjamin, Harry and Leonard Scheer, and her husband Håkon Laksov, who were all murdered in Auschwitz in 1943. In accordance with the Fund’s statutes, the prize is to be awarded «people or institutions who through action, in writing, speech or through the arts have defended human rights and opposed racial and religious discrimination».

The prize relates to the condition of human rights in Norway, and to the promotion of human rights in Norway.