Iceland’s courts warn funding cuts could slow legal proceedings

Officials from Iceland’s Court Administration and the board of the Icelandic Bar Association have criticised planned cuts to court funding and warned that they could reduce the courts’ capacity and slow proceedings, mbl.is reports.

Sigurður Tómas Magnússon, chair of the Court Administration board, and Kristín Haraldsdóttir, its director, said in the introduction to the administration’s newly published annual report that the government and Parliament had repeatedly been urged in recent years to ensure sufficient staffing, facilities and security in court buildings. They pointed to the growing number of extensive and serious criminal cases.

They also noted that the number of judges at Landsréttur, Iceland’s Court of Appeal, was increased from 15 to 16 in 2023 without additional funding for the courts.

“In the 2025 financial plan, it was decided to reduce annual appropriations for the courts by just over ISK 100 million over the 2026 to 2030 period,” they wrote. “These proposals were scarcely justified, and their effects on the operation of the courts, including the length of proceedings, were not assessed.”

Despite this, the plan set goals of ensuring efficient proceedings and improving court services, they said.

In comments on the 2027 to 2031 financial plan published on Parliament’s website on Tuesday, the Icelandic Bar Association board said there was reason to warn against the planned cuts. The association said the courts’ basic appropriations under the budget were already about ISK 100 million below their operating costs.

The board said cuts would likely affect the courts’ capacity, which was already under significant pressure, and would therefore slow proceedings. This could affect legal security and fundamental human rights, including the provision of Iceland’s Constitution concerning the right to a fair trial.

The Court Administration conducts a survey among lawyers and prosecutors every three years, including questions about whether the length of court proceedings is reasonable. In the latest survey, conducted last autumn, about 34 percent of respondents said the length of proceedings in the district courts was reasonable. Only 17 percent of the lawyers and prosecutors who responded said the same about proceedings at Landsréttur.

Most respondents, about 85 percent, considered the length of proceedings at Hæstiréttur, Iceland’s Supreme Court, reasonable.

The surveys show a significant change in lawyers’ and prosecutors’ views of proceedings at Landsréttur. In 2019, 45 percent considered the length reasonable, while 51 percent said it was somewhat or far too long. In 2022, only 16 percent considered it reasonable, followed by 17 percent in the latest survey.

The annual report says Iceland’s courts concluded 14,141 cases across all court levels last year. The courts had about 145 full-time equivalent positions.

The report’s introduction says the figures show that court employees achieved very good results in handling cases last year despite heavy and sustained pressure.

The length of civil proceedings in the district courts has remained fairly similar in recent years, fluctuating only from year to year.