Sigríður Ásthildur Andersen (born 21 November 1971) is an

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 politician and lawyer who served as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

of Iceland from 2017–2019. She resigned as minister of justice after the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

found her appointments of judges to the Icelandic

court of appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

to be illegal. She has been a member of the Icelandic parliament (Althing) for the

Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

since 2015.

Education and career

Sigríður graduated from Reykjavik Junior College in 1991, studied law at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...

, and became an attorney in 2001. From 1999–2005 she worked as a lawyer at the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce, sat on the Council of District Courts from 2004–2009, and then worked at a private law firm from 2007–2015. She was a deputy member of parliament for the Independence Party for a short while in 2008 and for a few months in 2012–2015. She then became an elected member of parliament in 2015.

Controversies

Sigríður has been a controversial figure during her tenure as the minister of justice. She played a pivotal role in the controversy surrounding the restored honour of a convicted child sex offender which led to the dissolution of the Cabinet of Iceland under prime minister Bjarni Benediktsson in 2017. In 2017, she did not follow the recommendations of a special committee list of the most qualified judges for the newly formed Icelandic court of appeals and instead hand-picked 4 of them, including the wife of fellow Independence Party parliamentarian Brynjar Níelsson. On 12 March 2019 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the appointments had been made illegally. On 13 March 2019, in the aftermath of the ruling, Sigríður announced that she would resign as minister of justice.

References

External links

Biography of Sigríður Á. Andersen on the parliament website (Icelandic)

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Sigrídur Á. 1971 births Living people Sigrídur Á. Andersen Sigrídur Á. Andersen Sigrídur Á. Andersen Sigrídur Á. Andersen Sigrídur Á. Andersen 21st-century Icelandic politicians Sigrídur Á. Andersen Sigrídur Á. Andersen Sigrídur Á. Andersen Female justice ministers 21st-century women lawyers