ICELAND | Skúli Magnússon elected new Parliamentary Ombudsman of Iceland

On April 26, the Althingi, the Parliament of Iceland, elected Skúli Magnússon, President of the District Court of Reykjavik, as the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Magnússon is the third to be elected Parliamentary Ombudsman, the first being Gaukur Jörundsson, elected in 1987 and later Judge at the European Court of Human Rights.

Aged 51, Magnússon leaves behind him a judicial career as a District and Appeal Court Judge, Ad-hoc Judge at the Supreme Court as well as being part-time Associate Professor at the University of Iceland, Faculty of Law, for more than 20 years. In 2010 he was elected by the Althingi, as a member of the State´s Constitutional Committee and in 2017 the Inatsisartut, the Parliament of Greenland, appointed him as an advisor on its Constitutional Commission. He is the former Chairman of the Icelandic Judges´ Association and the author of a number of academic publications.

“Coming from the judiciary, I am only too familiar with the need for upholding the citizens´ rights in their relations with the State and public bodies. However, the Ombudsman is not only, at times, a recourse of last resort for the citizen but an institution which, unlike the judge, is able to prioritize and focus on issues and areas which would otherwise fall short of judicial and administrative review. This puts the Ombudsman in a unique position as one of the tenets for maintaining the Rule of Law and contributing to good government, not at least in times characterized by rapid technological developments and changing demographics. I am excited to take on this challenge and humble for the confidence placed in me by the Althingi.”

Skúli Magnússon succeeds Tryggvi Gunnarsson, in office since 1998, who has now stepped down at his own request due to retirement. Magnússon is in office since May 1.

Source: The Althing Ombudsman, Iceland