Iceland

Name of law: The Information ActNo. 50/1996
First adopted: 1996
Last modified: n/a
RTI Rating last updated: 2011-08

Introduction

Iceland is another European country with a very weak right to information law, falling into the bottom 20% of the Rating. It has very weak guarantees for the right, is limited to the executive branch of government and does not even cover State-owned enterprises. Its best performing category is requesting procedures, although it still has gaps there. It does not allow secrecy laws to override it and most specific exceptions are legitimate, but several are not harm-tested and there is no public interest override. Appeals go to an Information Committee, which is positive, but this body is not sufficiently independent and the grounds for appeal are somewhat limited. There are no sanctions or protections at all, and only a very few promotional measures are provided for.