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Iceland’s Parliament can pass the government’s Protocol 35 bill without breaching the Constitution, according to law professor Hafsteinn Dan Kristjánsson. He nevertheless expects the legislation would probably face an early court challenge if adopted, Iceland Review reports. Hafsteinn said the proposal would determine which of two conflicting Icelandic statutes takes priority when one implements obligations under the European Economic Area agreement. In his analysis, it would not allow foreign law to override Iceland’s Constitution, which would remain above ordinary legislation. He described the legal question as more substantial than a minor technical adjustment, while rejecting the suggestion that the bill would remove Iceland’s responsibility for adopting EEA rules through domestic legislation. The proposed change concerns the relationship between domestic laws once those rules have been enacted. A 2024 Supreme Court judgment concerning maternity-leave rights changed the starting point for the debate. The court found that the existing EEA Act did not establish a general priority rule equivalent to Protocol 35, according to Iceland Review. At the end of September, the EFTA Surveillance Authority referred Iceland to the EFTA Court, arguing that the country had still not adequately implemented the required priority principle. The government’s bill has completed its first parliamentary debate and is now before the Foreign Affairs Committee. Hafsteinn’s assessment is a legal opinion on the proposal, rather than a court ruling on its constitutionality. He also said Parliament could subsequently enact legislation that knowingly departed from an EEA obligation, provided lawmakers expressed that intention clearly and accepted the political and legal consequences. His assessment places the bill’s central question on how conflicting Icelandic statutes should operate, with any eventual legal challenge still to be decided.
Iceland’s Parliament can pass the government’s Protocol 35 bill without breaching the Constitution, according to law professor Hafsteinn Dan Kristjánsson. He nevertheless expects the legislation would probably face an early court challenge if adopted, Iceland Review reports.
Hafsteinn said the proposal would determine which of two conflicting Icelandic statutes takes priority when one implements obligations under the European Economic Area agreement. In his analysis, it would not allow foreign law to override Iceland’s Constitution, which would remain above ordinary legislation.
He described the legal question as more substantial than a minor technical adjustment, while rejecting the suggestion that the bill would remove Iceland’s responsibility for adopting EEA rules through domestic legislation. The proposed change concerns the relationship between domestic laws once those rules have been enacted.
A 2024 Supreme Court judgment concerning maternity-leave rights changed the starting point for the debate. The court found that the existing EEA Act did not establish a general priority rule equivalent to Protocol 35, according to Iceland Review.
At the end of September, the EFTA Surveillance Authority referred Iceland to the EFTA Court, arguing that the country had still not adequately implemented the required priority principle.
The government’s bill has completed its first parliamentary debate and is now before the Foreign Affairs Committee. Hafsteinn’s assessment is a legal opinion on the proposal, rather than a court ruling on its constitutionality.
He also said Parliament could subsequently enact legislation that knowingly departed from an EEA obligation, provided lawmakers expressed that intention clearly and accepted the political and legal consequences. His assessment places the bill’s central question on how conflicting Icelandic statutes should operate, with any eventual legal challenge still to be decided.
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