This is a list of parliaments of Iceland.

Historical overview

* Commonwealth of Iceland (930–1262) **The

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

was founded at

Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland f ...

in 930. It held both

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

and

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...

power but no

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

power was present in the country. * Union with Norway (1262–1814) **When

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

became a dependency of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the legislative power of the parliament was shared with the king of Norway who ruled through his officials. Laws adopted by the parliament were subject to

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

and, conversely, if the king initiated legislation, the parliament had to give its consent. *

Danish monarchy The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was al ...

(1380–1944) **Norway falls under the control the Danish monarchy and Iceland along with it. The parliament served almost exclusively as a court of law until the year 1800 when it was disbanded by royal

decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

. **A royal decree providing for the reestablishment of the parliament was issued on 8 March 1843. Elections were held the following year and the assembly finally met on 1 July 1845. The parliament functioned however only as a consultative assembly. *

Constitution of Iceland The Constitution of Iceland ( Icelandic: ''Stjórnarskrá lýðveldisins Íslands'' "Constitution of the republic of Iceland") is the supreme law of Iceland. It is composed of 80 articles in seven sections, and within it the leadership arrangemen ...

(1874) **The constitution of 1874 granted to the parliament joint legislative power with the crown in matters of exclusive Icelandic concern. The king retained the right to veto legislation and often, on the advice of his ministers, refused to consent to legislation adopted by the parliament. **The parliament began meeting in the newly built Parliament House in 1881 and has done so ever since. **A

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

, confirmed on 3 October 1903, granted Icelanders

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

and

parliamentary government A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

. **After 1915 standing committees began operating in the parliament for the first time. The parliament was

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

and each chamber had the same seven standing committees. *

Kingdom of Iceland The Kingdom of Iceland ( is, Konungsríkið Ísland; da, Kongeriget Island) was a sovereign and independent country under a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchy that was established by the Danish ...

(1918–1944) **The parliament was granted unrestricted legislative power. * Republic of Iceland (1944–present) **In May 1991 the parliament became

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

, operating in a unified chamber. **Iceland joins the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...

in 1994, thus transferring significant legislative power to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Parliament as a legislature (1875–present)

{{Iceland topics, state=expanded Althing Legislatures by legislative term of office

Parliaments In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...