Minister for Iceland ( da, Minister for Island, ; is, Ráðherra Íslands) was a post in the

Danish cabinet The Cabinet of Denmark ( da, regering) has been the chief executive body and the government of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1848. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister. There are around 25 members of the Cabinet, known as "ministers", all of w ...

for

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 ...

ic affairs.

History

The post was established on 5 January 1874 as, according to the

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 ...

, the executive power rested in the

King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe ...

through the Danish cabinet. The Constitutional Act of Iceland of 3 October 1903 stated that the Minister for Iceland had to be a resident of

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

and be able to read and write Icelandic. The minister was responsible to the Icelandic

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 ...

. The post of Minister for Iceland was part of the post of

Justice Minister of Denmark The Danish Minister for Justice ( da, Justitsministeren) is the head of the Ministry of Justice and a cabinet member. As the head of the department, the minister is responsible for: * The General judicial system including ** The Police of Denma ...

until 1904 when Iceland obtained extended

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 ...

. After an agreement with the

Social Liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

government in Copenhagen in January 1917, Jón Magnússon formed the first coalition government consisting of three ministers and with a majority in the Althing behind it.

Parliamentarism 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 ...

was thus implemented in Iceland. Jón Magnússon got the title ''forsætisráðherra Íslands'' (

Prime Minister of Iceland The prime minister of Iceland ( is, Forsætisráðherra Íslands) is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the president and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary suppor ...

, but literally chairman or president of the ministers), while all three ministers were also formally members of the Danish cabinet each with the title Minister of Iceland. In 1918, the

Danish–Icelandic Act of Union The Danish–Icelandic Act of Union, an agreement signed by Iceland and Denmark on 1 December 1918, recognized Iceland as a fully independent and sovereign state – the Kingdom of Iceland – freely associated to Denmark in a personal union wi ...

recognised Iceland as an independent and sovereign state in a

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

with Denmark. The

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 ...

was established and the post of Minister for Iceland was closed down on 30 November 1918.

List of ministers

Constitution (1874–1904)

Home rule (1904–1918)

References

*Dam, Poul (1996). ''Hvem var minister'' (3. edition). Aros. . *Skou, Kaare R. (2005). ''Dansk politik A–Å''. Aschehoug. . *Sundbøl, Per (1978). ''Dansk Islandspolitik 1913-1918''. Odense Universitetsforlag. . {{Ministers of Iceland 1874 establishments in Denmark 1918 disestablishments

Denmark–Iceland relations

History

List of ministers

Constitution (1874–1904)

Home rule (1904–1918)

See also

References