Iceland - National Report - World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition

Gardar V. Gunnarsson is an attorney-at-law at LEX Law Offices in Reykjavik. Mr. Gunnarsson specializes in international commercial arbitration law, commercial law, company law and tax law. He has been a lecturer at Reykjavik University since 2008. In addition, Mr. Gunnarsson has been actively involved in promoting the use of arbitration in Iceland as well as instigating for a legislative reform of the Icelandic Arbitration Act. Mr. Gunnarsson received his B.A. and M.L. degrees from Reykjavik University School of Law and an LL.M. degree in International Commercial Arbitration Law from Stockholm University.

PDF1.1 MB

$40.00

Description:

Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition

Preview Page

I. INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN ICELAND –

HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration

1. Historical evolution of law relating to arbitration

a) Arbitration in the Icelandic Commonwealth

The method of resolving disputes by means of arbitration has a

rich historical background in Iceland.1 The Icelandic Parliament, the

Althing, was established in 930 and marked the establishment of the

Icelandic Commonwealth, which existed until 1262. The Icelandic

Sagas and other authorities suggest that arbitration was, during the

existence of the Icelandic Commonwealth, a common method of

resolving disputes without resorting to arms.2 “In Iceland, settlement

was inseparable from the arbitration process.”3 Arbitral proceedings

are described in Njáls Saga,4 thus establishing the existence of a

developed arbitral procedure in Iceland as early as the eleventh

century.5 The procedure described in these historic authorities

resembles the arbitral procedure as we know it today, as the

following quotation demonstrates:

“Without an executive power, Icelanders had developed the

method of resolution to end or avoid conflicts, armed or

otherwise. Most common was arbitrated resolution, in which

a third party, not directly involved in the issue at hand,

would propose a settlement, to which the two

parties―having requested the procedure in the first place

and having expressed a willingness to consider the

resolution―most often agreed.”6

The most remarkable “arbitral award” of Icelandic history was

rendered at the Althing in the year 1000, where a decision made by a

sole arbitrator provided for the peaceful conversion of the entire

nation to Christianity. Struggling with feud and internal conflicts

between the pagan and Christian inhabitants, and with the

possibility of civil war erupting, the Althing granted the greatly

respected law speaker Thorgeir Ljosvetningagodi the authority to

decide the issue in a final and binding manner.7 The following words
are attributed to the arbitrator at this dramatic moment: