Consult the detailed scoring methodology.
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies develop forward regulatory plans – that is, a public list of anticipated regulatory changes or proposals intended to be adopted/implemented within a specified time frame? | Yes, throughout government |
A list of anticipated parliamentary bills is presented by the Government when the parliament resumes after the summer recess.
|
| Are these plans available to general public? | No | |
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies publish the text or summary of proposed (not yet adopted) regulations before their enactment? | Yes, throughout government |
As a rule, each ministry publishes proposed bills as well as draft regulations (secondary law) that are anticipated to have considerable impact on individuals or undertakings. White papers and reports may also be published.
|
| Where is the draft text or summary published? | On a unified website where all proposed regulations are published; directly distributed to interested stakeholders. |
http://samradsgatt.island.is
Proposed law and regulations is distributed to interested stakeholders through organized interest groups. |
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies have the legal obligation to publish the text of proposed regulations before their enactment? | Yes, in some ministries/regulatory agencies only |
As a rule, publication of proposed bills of law (primary law) is mandatory. Publication of proposed regulations (secondary legislation) is optional.
Cabinet Resolution on the preparation and finalization of Government bills on March 2017 (Samþykkt ríkisstjórnar um undirbúning og frágang stjórnarfrumvarpa, mars 2017) available at: https://www.stjornarradid.is/media/forsaetisraduneyti-media/media/frettir2/Samthykkt-rikisstjornar-um-stjornarskjol-10-mars-2017.pdf. |
| Is the entire text of the proposed draft published? | Yes, throughout government | |
| Is there a period of time set by law for the text of the proposed regulations to be publicly available? | No |
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies solicit comments on proposed (not yet adopted) regulations from the general public? | Yes, throughout government | |
| How are the comments received? |
On a unified website for all proposed regulations; through public meetings; through targeted outreach to stakeholders, such as business associations o...
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On a unified website for all proposed regulations; through public meetings; through targeted outreach to stakeholders, such as business associations or other groups; through social media. |
http://samradsgatt.island.is
Comments are received in organized interest groups. Membership to certain organized interest groups helps in finding the interested stakeholders. Phone calls |
| Are received comments publicly accessible? | Yes, throughout government |
The consultation process provides for the option of making comments accessible to the general public. As for primary law, results of the consultation must always be mentioned in the "consultation" part of commentary to the legal bill as well as the position of the Ministry to the comments.
|
| Is the rulemaking body required by law to solicit these comments on proposed regulations? | Yes |
Articles 3 and 9 of Cabinet Resolution on the preparation and finalization of Government bills on March 2017 (Samþykkt ríkisstjórnar um undirbúning og frágang stjórnarfrumvarpa, mars 2017.) https://www.stjornarradid.is/media/forsaetisraduneyti-media/media/frettir2/Samthykkt-rikisstjornar-um-stjornarskjol-10-mars-2017.pdf
|
| Is there a specialized government body or department tasked with soliciting and receiving these comments? | No | |
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies report on the results of the consultation on proposed regulations? | Yes, throughout government | |
| How does the government report on the results of the consultation? | Provides customized responses. |
Proposals for new legal acts must state how comments in public hearing have been received and whether they have had an impact on the proposal. Results must always appear in the "consultation" part of commentary to the bill as well as the position of the Ministry to the comments. Furthermore, summary results must be published on the dedicated consultation website. There is however no reporting for subordinate regulation.
|
| Where does the government report on the results of the consultation? | On a unified website for all proposed regulations. | |
| Is reporting on the results of the consultation required by law? | Yes |
Article 9(4) of Cabinet Resolution on the preparation and finalization of Government bills on March 2017 (Samþykkt ríkisstjórnar um undirbúning og frágang stjórnarfrumvarpa, mars 2017).
|
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies conduct an impact assessment of proposed (not yet adopted) regulations? | Yes, throughout government | |
| Are there criteria used for determining which proposed regulations are subjected to an impact assessment? | Yes |
Impact assessment is conducted for all draft primary laws but only those draft secondary laws are assessed that may have a significant impact on the economy and the financial system.
|
| Are there any specific regulatory impact assessment guidelines? | Yes | |
| Are impact assessments required by law? | Yes |
Art. 66(1) and 66(3) of Act No 123/2015 on Public Finance (Primary law) and by cabinet resolution (Secondary law).
|
| Are impact assessment made publicly available? | Yes | |
| How is this assessment distributed? | Through a unified website for all proposed regulations. |
www.stjornarradid.is - published in Icelandic. A dedicated website, samradsgatt.island.is, was launched in October 2017.
Impact Assessment must always be present in the “Impact Assessment” part of commentary to the bill. |
| When is this assessment distributed? | Together with the draft proposed legislation. | |
| Is there an obligation for regulators to consider alternatives to proposed regulation? | Yes, throughout government |
It is obligatory for regulators to consider the situation and the effects of not regulating the specific area of law. All alternatives that achieve the same goal are to be described and an explanation to be given for why other alternatives are not viable.
|
| Is there a specialized government body tasked with reviewing and monitoring regulatory impact assessments conducted by other individual agencies or government bodies? | Yes | |
| Please provide the name of this government body, and explain its functions. |
The Office of Legislative Affairs, within the Prime Minister’s Office, reviews and monitors new legal acts (not new regulations). It monitors impact a...
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The Office of Legislative Affairs, within the Prime Minister’s Office, reviews and monitors new legal acts (not new regulations). It monitors impact assessment of new legislation, gives advice and issues guidance. Its opinion follows the bill to the cabin |
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Are the laws that are currently in effect available in a single place? | Yes | |
| How are the laws that are in force accessed? |
On a unified website managed by the government Printed in an official gazette / journal or other publication |
http://www.althingi.is
Stjórnartíðind Printed version is widely available and is also accessible online. (http://www.stjornartidindi.is) |
| Are the secondary regulations that are currently in effect codified and available in a single place? | Yes | |
| Are these websites or registries updated regularly? | Yes | |
| Can these websites or registries be accessed by the public free of charge? | Yes |
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies conduct ex-post reviews? | No | |
| Are there any criteria for which regulations are subject to ex-post reviews? | No | |
| What specific approaches are used by your government? | n/a | |
| Are ex-post reviews required by law? | No |