The Court of Legislature ( , "law-right") was a

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

and high court established in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in the year 930 during the period of the

Icelandic Commonwealth The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing () in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. W ...

930 – c. 965

It was an institution of

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

, the nation's legislative and judicial authority. There was no executive power in the country at the time. After the country had been divided into four quarters around 965, four courts called quarter courts were established for each of them at Althing and thus took over the judicial responsibilities of the Court of Legislature.

c. 1262 – 1563

Approximately 1015 a high court called the Fifth Court was established to hear cases left unsettled by the quarter courts. When the Commonwealth came to an end and Icelanders submitted to the authority of the Norwegian king in 1262 the Court of Legislature regained its judicial functions, as the Fifth Court and quarter courts were abolished, and retained some legislative authority. The Court of Legislature served as a high court and district courts were established as lower courts. Towards the end of the 14th century, royal succession brought both

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and Iceland under the control of the

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 alrea ...

. With the introduction of absolute monarchy in Denmark-Norway, the Icelanders relinquished their autonomy to the crown, including the right to initiate and consent to legislation. After that, the Court of Legislature served almost exclusively as a court of law. In 1563 the High Court was established due to dissatisfaction with the Court of Legislature. From there on the Court of Legislature was no longer the high court of the country.

1563 – 1800

Both the Court of Legislature and the High Court were replaced when the

National High Court The National High Court ( , ) was a high court in Iceland established in 1800. The court was established due to dissatisfaction with the High Court (Iceland), High Court which had been the high court of the country from 1563. In 1919, the Supre ...

was established as a high court the year 1800.

References

{{Iceland topics Courts in Iceland