The Constitutional Committee and the National Forum
Under the Act on the Constitutional Assembly, the Althingi was to elect a seven-man Constitutional Committee, which was entrusted with a threefold task, as follows.
The Constitutional Assembly – the Constitutional Council
On 16 June 2010 the Althingi passed the Constitutional Assembly Act, No. 90/2010. This provided for the calling of an advisory constitutional assembly to review the Constitution of the Republic of Iceland, the Act No. 33 of 17 June 1944. Specifically, the assembly was entrusted with an examination of certain issues but was authorized to broaden the examination.
Elections to the Constitutional Assembly were held on 27 November 2010, and 25 representatives were elected to the assembly: 15 men and 10 women. The turnout in the election was 35%. A complaint was made over irregularities in the conduct of the election and on 25 January 2011 the Supreme Court ruled it invalid. After this, the Althingi passed a resolution on 24 March under which a 25-man Constitutional Council was appointed, consisting of the same representatives as had been elected in the election to the assembly in 20101, and this council was commissioned with making proposals on amendments to the Constitution.
1 All but one of the 25 originally elected accepted their appointment to the Council, the one who declined being replaced by the person who had come 26th in the election.
The Constitutional Council
The Constitutional Council was commissioned to examine the same matters as it had been intended that the Constitutional Assembly would examine, and it too was granted the same authorisation to give attention to further issues as well.
