National Court (Iceland)

The National Court (Icelandic: Landsdómur) is a special high court in Iceland established in 1905 to handle cases where members of the Cabinet are suspected of criminal behaviour.[1]

National Court
Landsdómur
Established	1905
Jurisdiction	Iceland
Location	Reykjavík
Composition method	5 Supreme Court justices President of the Reykjavík District Court Professor of constitutional law at the University of Iceland 8 appointments by Parliament
Authorized by	Constitution No. 33/1944 National Court Act No. 3/1963
Judge term length	6 years (Parliament appointees)
Number of positions	15 (by statute)
Website	landsdómur.is (in Icelandic)

Composition

The National Court has 15 members: five Supreme Court justices, the Reykjavík District Court President, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Iceland and eight people chosen by the Parliament every six years.[2]

Assembly

The court assembled for the first time in 2011,[3] to prosecute former Prime Minister Geir Haarde for alleged gross misconduct in the events leading up to the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis. On September 28, 2010, the Parliament decided, by 33 votes to 30, to charge Haarde.[4] Originally faced with six charges, he was convicted only on one that was considered to be a minor one.

See also

• Labour Court

References

1. "Islands tidligere statsminister stilles for riksrett". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. NTB. September 28, 2010. Archived from the original on October 1, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
2. Helgason, Gudjon; Dodds, Paisley (September 28, 2010). "Iceland Ex-PM Faces Possible Charges in Meltdown". ABC News. AP. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
3. "Assembly of the High Court in April 2012". Icelandreview.com. April 15, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
4. "BREAKING NEWS: Iceland's Former PM Taken to Court". Iceland Review Online. September 28, 2010. Archived from the original on March 25, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2010.