About the Supreme Court
Iceland’s Supreme Court is the highest court in the country’s judicial system, which has three instances or levels. The first (lowest) of these consists of the eight district courts (héraðsdómar), each of which has jurisdiction in its own region; the second is the Court of Appeals (Landsréttur), the jurisdiction of which extends over the whole country. Details of the organisation of the judiciary, the appointment of judges, etc., are set out in the Judiciary Act, No. 50/2016, in addition to which the independence of the judiciary is guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of Iceland, No. 33/1944.
The bench of the Supreme Court consists of seven judges, who elect the president and vice-president of the court for terms of five years. Cases are heard by five judges, though the president of the court may decide to have all seven sit on particularly important cases. Pleading normally takes place orally, in sittings that are open to the public.
Appeal may only be brought before the Supreme Court when permission is granted by the court itself. Conditions for the leave to appeal are set out in law and include whether a case is likely to have precedent value or involves particularly important interests of the party seeking to bring an appeal. Appeals may also be permitted if the process of the case at the lower judicial levels was grossly inadequate or the conclusion reached by the Court of Appeals manifestly incorrect. Appeals may be brought before the Supreme Court in both civil and criminal cases; in criminal cases, the Supreme Court does not review the assessment by the Court of Appeals of the evidential value of oral evidence.
Appeals may be lodged with the Supreme Court against judgments by the Court of Appeals; it is also possible to refer district court judgments directly to the Supreme Court, subject to the condition that the case in question will have precedent value or will be of great significance for the community. Other conditions are that it will not be necessary to examine witnesses or to assess the value of the oral evidence heard by the district court. Appeal licences are also not granted if specialist expertise will be necessary to judge the case. Where any of these circumstances apply, the case must go before the Court of Appeals, where oral evidence is heard and expert co-judges may be called in.
The Supreme Court receives 150-200 appeal applications and judges 50-60 cases of various types each year. Decisions on appeal applications are published here on the home page.
It is just over a century since the Supreme Court of Iceland began its operations on 16 February 1920. The establishment of the court was part of the country’s emergence as a fully-fledged state, independence having been gained from Denmark on 1 December 1918. On the basis of this new status, it was decided to transfer supreme power in Iceland’s judicial affairs from the Danish Supreme Court to Iceland by establishing the country’s own Supreme Court.
Prior to the establishment of the Supreme Court there had been three judicial instances in Iceland: the district courts (héraðsdómstólar), the National High Court (Landsyfirréttur) and then the Danish Supreme Court. With the establishment of the Supreme Court of Iceland, the National High Court was abolished, leaving two levels in the judicial system: the district courts and the Supreme Court, an arrangement that lasted until 1 January 2018, almost a century later, when the Court of Appeals (Landsréttur) began functioning as both an intermediary level and an appeal court. Since then, the Supreme Court has been the third judicial instance in Iceland.
Though the transfer of supreme judicial authority from Denmark to Iceland was a significant step in the achievement of full independence, opinion on it was divided, both in the period leading up to the move and in the first years of the Supreme Court’s functioning. This reflected both political divisions within the country and also the fact that the judicial system now operated on only two levels. The change came to be accepted as time passed, however, and the court has long enjoyed trust and respect, notwithstanding controversy that has arisen from time to time.
The bench of the Supreme Court originally consisted of five judges. This number was reduced to three in 1926 and then increased again to five in 1945. Further judges were added later, the number peaking at 12 in 2011. It was then reduced to seven when the court became the third judicial instance in 2018. Guðrún Erlendsdóttir became the first woman to be appointed to the bench in 1986. Seven women have been among the 54 persons who have been appointed as Supreme Court justices since its inception.
The Supreme Court began operations in a dignified stone building in the centre of Reykjavík which also housed a prison; the National High Court, which was abolished when the Supreme Court was set up, as described above, had been located in the same building. In 1949 the Supreme Court moved to a new venue and remained there until 1996, when it moved to its present location in a specially-designed courthouse.
The minister of justice turned the first sod for the new Supreme Court of Iceland building on 15 July 1994, laid the cornerstone on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the court on 16 February 1995, and handed over the key to the president of the court on 5 September 1996.
The design of the building, by Studio Granda, was selected from 40 entries submitted in a competition held in 1993. The architects, Margrét Harðardóttir and Steve Christer, are also known for designing the Reykjavík City Hall and the new offices for Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi.
The building’s plinth is of hewn basalt with a superstructure of sawn basalt and green patinated copper. Highlighting is achieved through the use of gabbró, an Icelandic metamorphic rock, and it is no coincidence that the overall colour palette strongly resembles that of Mount Esja on the far side of the Faxaflói Bay. On the south façade the copper is shaped to meet a gently sloping lawn under the shade of silver rowans. A taut trawler cable marks the edge of the grass and serves as a reminder of the mainstay of the nation’s economy. Internally, the forms and finishes, including concrete, terrazzo and oak, and colour scheme have been selected to subtly frame and support the spaces and functions within.
Reception desk
The reception desk of the Supreme Court is in the spacious entrance lobby, where the painting Drekkingarhylur (‘the Drowning Pool’) by Sigtryggur Bjarni Baldvinsson is displayed. The subject of this work is the execution site at Þingvellir, the location of Iceland’s parliament and court of justice in ancient times. The guest chairs were designed specially for the building, initially as part of an exhibition instigated by the Alvar Aalto Museum in Jyväskylä, and later approved by the court for inclusion in the building itself.
A ramp leads beneath a canted wall from the lobby to the courtrooms and upper levels. Some see the route as a representation of the geological rift at Þingvellir through which those attending the Althingi would have walked. Others may interpret it as a reference to the spatial restrictions of imprisonment.
Courtrooms
There are two courtrooms which are accessed from the ramp, one large and one small. Between their doors hang portraits of the first justices of the Supreme Court.
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The larger of the two rooms hosts a stained-glass work by Leifur Breiðfjörð that fills the room with multi-coloured light. This incorporates citations on the duties of judges from the lawcode Jónsbók, written in 1281, and from Njáls Saga on the oaths of advocates, both in prosecution and defence: “It is not in breach of settlement”, said Njáll, “for each to pursue the law against the other, for with law shall our land be built but with lawlessness destroyed.”
In counterpoint, the text“It will prove true that if we sunder the law in twain, we will also sunder the peace”is etched into the glass window to the ramp. These were the trenchant words of Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði on the occasion of the conversion of Iceland to Christianity at the Althingi in 1000, as recorded in Ari the Learned’s Book of the Icelanders.
These quotations are a poignant reminder that the rule of law has been a foundation of Icelandic society since ancient times.
The speaker’s lectern in the smaller courtroom is bathed in daylight from a conical shaft that penetrates through the upper floor, tangibly linking the court to the heavens. In a similar vein, Svava Björnsdóttir’s sculpture on the flanking wall appears to listen to the proceedings of the court. The piece was commissioned by the Icelandic Bar Association in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the court’s establishment and was incorporated as an integral part of the building during its construction.
Adjacent to the larger courtroom are facilities for court attorneys that include two private offices for client consultations. At the other, top, end of the ramp, the bronze sculpture Mind, by Helgi Gíslason, is poised next to the president’s office. This was a gift from the Icelandic Bar Association on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the court.
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Office of the President
The ceremonial office of the president of the court is primarily used to receive guests and hold meetings as, like the other court justices, the president has a working office on the third floor. This room holds many valuable given to the court, including the actual key that was presented to the president of the court by the minister of justice at the building’s inauguration ceremony.
Conference chamber
Connected to the president’s office is the conference chamber. Here the Supreme Court justices may meet to discuss and decide on matters other than the disposition of court cases. The room is furnished with a heavily carved table and chairs that date from the founding of the court in 1920 as well as three surviving chairs from the earlier National High Court.
Lounge
Adjacent to the conference chamber is the justices’ lounge with a panoramic view over the city and the bay. Here the justices gather before oral presentations and don their robes.
The third floor
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The third floor of the building contains the offices of the justice and their assistants and also that of the secretary-general of the court. Two meeting rooms command views of the city centre. The court’s library, considered one of the best law libraries in the country, is also located on this floor. This cluster of rooms is bound together about a common space that encircles the cone above the smaller courtroom below.
At the east end of the top floor an imposing gargoyle directs rainwater from the roof onto the lava-strewn roof garden below. This gentle stream changes dramatically in scale and character when, in winter, it freezes.
Statistics on the number of cases handled by the Court and their disposition can be found on the home page, along with information about the current and former Supreme Court justices, the employees of the Supreme Court and the Courthouse itself.
As soon as an oral case presentation is finished, the justices retire for a closed meeting to confer and vote on the disposition of the case. One justice will be responsible for introducing the matter and proposing a solution of the case, a duty shared among the justices according to an objective rule, and he will usually write the opinion of the Court.
At the meeting, this reporting justice will review the main aspects of the case and set forth his opinions on the specific points in issue, the legal arguments involved and the conclusion of the case. The other justices then will explain their views, one after the other, the President winding up the round.
If the views of the reporting justice do not have the support of a majority of the justices, the President will ask another justice to write the Court’s opinion, and the minority justices decide who will write a separate dissenting or concurring opinion.
The draft opinions are then reviewed and read over jointly at meetings of the justices, where they will attempt to harmonise their views and proposals, which sometimes requires several meetings.
Finally, a judgement will be ready, and the justices sign a single copy which is filed in the book of opinions of the Court.
There are two meeting rooms at the third floor of the Courthouse.
Both rooms have a view over the Reykjavik City Centre.
Justice Benedikt Bogason, President of the Supreme Court of Iceland
Justice Bogason took up his appointment as a Supreme Court Justice on 1 October 2012 and was elected President of the Court on 1 September 2020. Prior to his appointment he had served as a District Court judge since 2001 and as chief judge of the Western Iceland District Court since 2003. Before that, he had served as Director of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Justice since 1997.
He holds a Cand. jur. degree in Law from the University of Iceland. As well as sitting on the Supreme Court he holds the position of Professor of Law at the University. He has also written books and articles, especially on the general principles of the law of obligations.
Justice Ingveldur Einarsdóttir, Vice-President of the Supreme Court of Iceland
Justice Einarsdóttir took up her appointment as a Supreme Court Justice on 1 January 2020 and was elected Vice-President of the Court on 1 September 2020. Prior to her appointment she had served as a judge at Landsréttur (the Appeal Court) since 2018. Before that, she had served as a District Court judge since 1999.
She holds a Cand. jur. degree in Law from the University of Iceland and a degree in environmental law from Uppsala University.
Justice Ása Ólafsdóttir
Justice Ólafsdóttir took up her appointment as a Supreme Court Justice on 23 November 2020. Prior to her appointment she was a Professor of Law at the University of Iceland and a Supreme Court attorney since 2005.
She holds a Cand. jur. degree in Law from the University of Iceland and an LL.M. degree from the University of Cambridge. She has written books and articles, especially on contract law and bankruptcy law.
Justice Björg Thorarensen
Justice Thorarensen took up her appointment as a Supreme Court Justice on 23 November 2020. Prior to her appointment she was a Professor of Law at the University of Iceland since 2002. Before that she was a Director of Police and Judicial Affairs in the Ministry of Justice since 1996.
She holds a Cand. jur. degree in Law from the University of Iceland and an LL.M. degree from the University of Edinburgh. She has written books and articles, especially on constitutional law, human rights and data protection law.
Justice Karl Axelsson
Justice Axelsson took up his appointment as a Supreme Court Justice on 12 October 2015. Prior to his appointment he had worked as a Supreme Court attorney since 1997.
He holds a Cand. jur. degree in Law from the University of Iceland. As well as sitting on the Supreme Court he holds the position of Professor of Law at the University. He has also written books and articles, especially on property law.
Justice Ólafur Börkur Þorvaldsson
Ólafur Börkur took up his appointment as a Supreme Court Justice on 1 September 2003. Prior to his appointment he had served as a District Court judge from 1990 and as chief judge of the Eastern Iceland District Court since 1998. Before that, he served as a deputy judge at a magistrate’s court.
He holds a Cand. jur. degree in Law from the University of Iceland and an LL.M degree from the University of Lund, Sweden.
Justice Sigurður Tómas Magnússon
Justice Magnússon took up his appointment as a Supreme Court Justice on 18 May 2020. Prior to his appointment he had worked as a judge at Landsréttur (the Appeal Court) since 2018. Before that, he was a Professor of Law at the University of Reykjavik since 2010 and as a District Court judge since 1996.
He holds a Cand. jur. degree in Law from the University of Iceland. He has written articles, especially on procedural law.