Iceland

Parliament

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

Law-making

Data on parliament’s law-making role and activities

Legislative activity

Number of laws adopted by parliament, per year
80
(2023)
Total number of laws adopted by Parliament in the previous legislature
496
(2017-12 - 2021-08)
Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by parliament
74
(2017-12 - 2021-08)
Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by the government
422
(2017-12 - 2021-08)
Percentage of laws initiated by parliament in the previous legislature
15%
(2017-12 - 2021-08)
Dates of the previous legislature
14 Dec 2017 to 06 Jul 2021
(2017-12 - 2021-08)
Outcome when the two chambers cannot agree on a piece of draft legislation
No information available

Executive-legislative relations

Legislation adopted by parliament requires the assent of the Head of State
Yes
Number of times the Head of State declined to give assent to legislation, per year
0
(2023)
Consequences when the Head of State declines to give assent to legislation
The legislation is put to a referendum
Final decision when parliament and the Head of State do not agree
Not applicable

Existence of a procedure to introduce emergency legislation

There is a procedure for introducing emergency legislation into parliament
Yes
Number of times the procedure for emergency legislation was used, per year
0

Notes: In case of urgency, the President may issue provisional laws when the Althingi is not in session. Such laws must not, however, be contrary to the Constitution. They shall always be submitted to Althingi as soon as it convenes. If Althingi does not approve a provisional law, or if it does not complete its consideration of the law within six weeks after convening, the law shall become void.

Sources: Constitution, art. 28

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No