The Committee on Judges’ Work is an independent and autonomous committee, working under Art. 9 and 10 of  the Act on the Judiciary no. 50/2016. The committee's purpose is to strengthen the courts as independent and autonomous institutions.

Click here to find opinions and decisions of the Judiciary Committee on Judges’ Work (in Icelandic) along with information on judge‘s secondary jobs (in Icelandic). 

 

1. Complaints regarding judges

The committee discusses judges' disciplinary cases and, depending on circumstances, those of the judges' assistants and receives the complaints regarding their judicial work.

Anyone thinking that a judge's work has wronged him may direct a written and reasoned complaint to the committee. The committee shall receive the complaint within three months of when the event complained of occurred or came to the awareness of the complainant although not longer than a year from when the event took place.

 

A message to the committee shall be written and received on the following form: Complaint to the Committee on Judges’ Work.. It shall state the following information:

  • The complainant's name, National ID, and address.
  • The name of the judge complained of, in which court the judge presides and the number of the case, when the event occurred and the facts of the case that are the reason for the complaint.

 

When a complaint is deemed admissible for processing, the case is further investigated, and the judge involved gets an opportunity to submit written comments. The committee assesses whether the conduct described in the complaint accords with professional judicial work, and if there is reason to do so, it can find fault with the work of the judge involved or issue an admonition.  

If a complaint does not fall within the committee's jurisdiction, it is immediately rejected. This, for example, pertains to a complaint regarding a judge's judicial resolutions, but one cannot direct such complaints to the Committee on Judges’ Work. 

The committee's opinions and decisions cannot be appealed to another governmental authority. 

2. Judges’ secondary jobs and ownership shares in associations/companies

The committee monitors judges’ secondary jobs and their share in associations and businesses, in accordance with Regulations no. 1165/2017.

Judges shall not hold other jobs or own a share in an association or business. The Committee on Judges’ Work sets rules on exemptions from this main rule. When relevant, the committee can issue a reasoned decision forbidding a judge to hold a second job or own a share in an association or business.

The Committee on Judges’ Work keeps a register of judges' secondary jobs and their ownership share in associations and businesses and issues a public record of judges' secondary jobs and the work that a judge did before he accepted the office.