Constitution of the Republic of Iceland

The constitution of the Republic of Iceland ( Icelandic Stjórnarskrá lýðveldisins Íslands ) from 1944 provides the framework for the basic legal and political order of Iceland .

history

prehistory

The oldest Icelandic constitution dates from 1874. In this constitution, the Icelandic parliament, the Althing , was given legislative power, with the Danish king having the right to veto . The current constitution of June 17, 1944 - introduced with the final independence of Iceland from Denmark - replaced the constitution of the Kingdom of Iceland from 1920.

Extensions

The constitution has been expanded several times. In 1959, proportional voting was introduced in all constituencies . In 1968 the voting age was lowered from 21 to 20 years; In 1984 the age was lowered to 18 years and the number of seats in the Althing increased from 60 to 63. As part of the changes made in 1991, a single-chamber system was introduced in Iceland , which replaced the previous two-chamber system .

Drafting a new constitution

As a result of the financial crisis and the near bankruptcy of the state, a new version of the Icelandic constitution was drawn up. The elaboration was carried out by 25 elected representatives who, by consensus , drew up a draft using the crowdsourcing process, i.e. with the direct participation of the people. The aims of the process were, among other things, to increase the transparency of the administrative and legislative processes and to control politicians more closely. The official draft was handed over to the Althingi on July 29, 2011 , under a new government. In October, a consultative referendum resulted in a two-thirds majority that this draft should be made the basis of the country's new constitution. However, the previous Icelandic constitutional law provides that the new constitution is confirmed by parliament. However, the conservative opposition under the Independence Party (which provided the previous government) was against the new constitution and blocked the process, ultimately agreeing with the government not to implement the new constitution.